Identified with Jesus

I think that maybe the second night of revival was my favorite. It was kid’s night and we had a bunch of them. I’m not sure what the total was, but kudos to Mike, Denise and all of their workers. The kids had hotdogs, chicken nuggets and mac & cheese for dinner, a few simple magic tricks and then the children’s choirs did a grand job in the worship service.

I began the evening message by showing pictures of some of our favorite teams helmets: Nixa Eagles, Ozark Tigers, Kansas City Chiefs, St Louis Rams, a cheese head, and of course a batting helmet from the St Louis Cardinals. Each helmet carried the identification of the team that it represented.

I then showed some pictures of some other helmets: an Egyptian warrior’s helmet from around 900 BC, a Greek helmet from 800 BC, and Assyrian and Persian helmets. Each was distinctly different from the other. I also had pictures of the familiar helmets of the Roman army. The helmets always identified the army.

When Paul wrote that we are to take the helmet of salvation, he was telling us that we are to be identified with Jesus. In the same way that one could identify what side a soldier was on, one ought to be able to tell that we are with Jesus just by looking at us. Jesus told us that they would know us as His disciples by the way we love one another. The challenge for us is to live in such a way that people know that we are followers of Jesus. It isn’t enough that we say that we are His followers. We must show that we are His followers.

Did you take your helmet with you today? We must purposefully dress with our helmet each and every day. It does so much more that protect our thoughts and attitudes (you know, the stuff in your head), it identifies us as belonging to Jesus. Tonight, before you go to bed, check out your helmet. If it’s been awhile, scrape off the rust and put a bit of a shine on it. Tomorrow morning decide that for tomorrow, you’re going to be identified as belonging to Jesus and put it on. If you don’t have your helmet, then hit the comment button and ask how you can get one. I’d be happy to tell you all about it.

John