Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

What would you do and how would you act if this had been the last words from Paul in this epistle? He does declare finally my brethren. Then he goes on further to one of the most often quoted sections of his epistles, putting on the armor.

Those are powerful words and the general consensus is that it means to put on Christ. We seem to sense this by words in this verse, “in the Lord” and “in the power”. Let me ask you this then; how do you put on Christ?

Can you do it by overlooking everything Paul has asked of us in the preceding verses? Can we forget to follow the instructions that led up to this point and believe that all we have to do is put on Christ and everything will be fine?

We do fight the enemy of the Cross and we do need that armor to do battle. If that is true then let us think like real warriors preparing to go off to battle. Why are you going off to battle in the first place? Because he is the enemy? Noble consideration but as one who has been to war, allow me to make one historical observation.

I came back from war and my country had fallen apart. All that I had thought I was defending had vanished and my home was unrecognizable. What value is there in fighting a war if the kingdom is not prepared to remain faithful to the King while you are away doing battle?

That is what the previous five chapter of Ephesians is all about. If we leave all that undone, putting on the armor only defends you and not everything you love.

Finally my brethren, after you have done all that, then you can put on Christ, then you can move in His power.

Just remember it is His power and not yours.

1 Peter 2:2-3 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

As I opened up my bible app to study about hearing and feeling the Spirit in order to walk in the Spirit, this was the opening verse. As I pondered those words I reflected upon being born again and this newness of life as related to these verses. What struck me was the issue of sincere milk.

I was not raised on formula, cow’s milk, or goat’s milk, but rather on mother’s milk. Is mother’s milk the sincere milk? It is rather personal, bonding, emotional, and the best milk for babies. If this is true, how does this fact translate into sincere milk of the Word?

It too must be born of the same essence of mother’s milk, personal, bonding, emotional and good for you. That fact is related to the simple statement of growth in that the sincere milk of the word will promote spiritual growth. Here is the point to that observation; are you getting your milk of the Word from the source of the Word or are getting the store bought brand?

If I were to peradventure the reason many people tell me they do not get it, relating to bible study and spiritual growth, it is because they are consuming the store bought brand. It is pasteurized, sanitized, fortified, certified, packed and sold as nutritional, but it is not mother’s milk.

Some time ago I wrote a piece called Bible 101 and one of the first things I said about bible study was that one has to take it personally. I would add to that born out of our relationship with the Lord. The primary purposes has to be that bonding process, very much like a baby feels the love and warmth of the mother without understanding anything more than she is there.

The surety of presence is critical in the sincere milk of the word.