Spiritual Anti-Virus.......

Todays post goes off of yesterday. Its a reminder of how much we have to be on our guard everyday. How many times have you been doing something on the computer only to be repeatedly interrupted by that little box in the corner of your screen saying "Warning your computer is not fully protected please renew your anti-virus software?" Over the past few days everytime I seem to get in the middle of doing something this annoying little box pops on my screen with the "Warning" sign and i grumble to myself and click close which we all know only removes it temporarily then the next thing we know its back on our screen. Although that box is very annoying and seems to always interrupt us at the most inconvienent times its put there for the protection of our computer and for things that are important to us on our computer. Sure we could ignore it and go on with our business by just clicking close but then the next thing we know our computer ends up with a virus and everything that was of importance to us is wiped out.

I started thinking about this and wondered what it would be like if we all had an anti-virus program for our spiritual lives. A little meter that kept track of how well protected we kept ourselves from the enemy and when we didnt have our full armor of God on a little box would pop up and say "Warning you arent fully protected please apply more armor." How awesome would that be??? So many times in life we get so caught up in the busyness around us that we forget to put on our armor and the next thing we know our life is in chaos and we can't seem to figure out what went wrong. The truth is that unless we make a conscious effort everyday and somedays multiple times a day to protect ourself against satan its easy to find ourselves with our guard down. Something I have learned is that satan loves when we get busy and caught up in life because in those moments even if we let our guard down just a little its that little inch that gets him in the door of our lives to cause turmoil and destruction. Satan loves for us to let our guards down because by doing that little by little he can come in and wipe us out and draw us away from God's plan for our lives, plans for good. I was thinking about some really great moments in my life and others lives and how in the middle of that greatness it seemed like there always came a huge storm. I think we get so caught up in the glory of the greatness around us we get our heads stuck in the clouds. At times, we forget we still have to suit up and put on that armor, even when things are going great the enemy is still lurking behind somewhere plotting for destruction, and its in those moments when we aren't on our toes that he seems to creep in the most.

Ephesians 6:10-17 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Although it sounds amazing to think about having a pop up screen in our lives to keep us spiritually in check and protected, the truth is that just isnt the way it is. Although we dont have pop up screens warning us, the Lord has put people in each of our lives to serve as those spiritual meters. Only God knows our hearts but those around us are put in our lives to help encourage us, and remind us to put on that armor each day. Ask yourself today have you renewed your subscription and put on your armor against the enemy waiting to attack you and wipe you out? Is there someone that you care about that you feel like they just arent putting on their armor right now and you need to set off that "warning" sign to protect them? As a friend of mine says "lets put on our spiritual armor and start swinging :)"