Take the helmet of salvation… When you are a believer in Christ, you are protected, once and for all by the salvation that God Himself offers to you.

I once visited the emergency room in the middle of the night when a member of our church had suffered a motorcycle accident. He had been going almost one hundred miles per hour and his survival was called a miracle by the doctors. What saved him, humanly speaking? He had invested in an $800 helmet. He suffered injuries all over his body, but his head was okay.

As a believer in Jesus, you’re going to enter heaven bruised and scarred from many of life’s big battles. But you will enter heaven. As we’ve walked through the armor of God over the last few days, each piece requires us to “put it on,” but when Paul comes to this next piece of armor, his voice changes.

Take the helmet of salvation…

Ephesians 6:17a (NIV)

The word “take” here is in the middle voice, so it’s our choice to receive it, but we don’t put it on ourselves. Picture a soldier kneeling before a commanding officer, fully armed for battle except for this one last piece of equipment, which the commander himself places on the head of the warrior. In other words, when you are a believer in Christ, you are protected, once and for all by the salvation that God Himself offers to you. He arms you with it and while the choice is yours to receive it, He must fit you with it, for it is in His power alone to secure you.

When the battle rages and you feel beaten and bruised, trust the helmet to protect your mind, your thoughts, and your very life. Salvation is free, it’s forever, and it’s offered by an all-powerful Commander in Chief who wishes to protect you at all costs.