Ephesians 6:14b
Heavy breathing, panting, as the heart rushes to get the blood flowing. A fierce stare forward adds to the atmosphere of readiness. A hard and heavy battle, and the threat of danger, increases the beats. The heart supplies the need for increased effort at hand. If this system stops, holding the ground stops too. Every breath hangs on the edge, in a fragile exchange between heart and lungs. The body collapses the moment this heart stops beating.
The ribcage expands. The lungs fill with a fresh breath of air. For a moment, the gases almost touch the blood cells as they make their exchange. These freshly rejuvenated cells rush onward. The heart receives freshly oxygenated blood from the lungs, squeezes it into its largest chamber, then drives it firmly out to the body. A clear, steady thump, thump. So frail, so vulnerable — delicate parts that hover between life and death. This needs guarding, it needs to be kept safe. The ribs wrap snugly around this system. The ribs guard the heart, but at this level of threat, it might not be enough.
We read in Proverbs 4:23 that we are to guard our hearts. In Hebrew thought, the heart is not merely the seat of emotion — it is the seat of mind, will, and emotion together, the command centre of the whole person. If our heart is filled with the issues of life, it will drown us. If it is filled with unrighteous thoughts, we become vulnerable under temptation. It is important to fill our hearts with righteous thoughts. If our hearts fail us, we will be unable to stand. Our enemy makes use of weapons able to pierce the heart precisely there — we have all felt the weight of temptation, and even buckled under its onslaught into sin. We need righteousness to guard our hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us the heart is deceptive; its depths need guarding. Our very breath was received from God in Genesis 2:7 — our hearts distribute this life through our veins. It is important to guard our hearts.
We have all been exposed to rules — simple rules that taught us as children what was allowed and what was not. For the most part, these rules kept us in line. Paul explains that the law was our schoolteacher, guarding us until Christ came (Galatians 3:24). Even those without the law carry something like it written on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness (Romans 2:14–15) — a natural defence, a natural sense of right and wrong. But Paul is clear this is not enough. We need the gospel — a truth that reaches beyond this natural defence. We need more than our ribs to defend our hearts against the attacks of the enemy. Facing enemies of such fierce stature, armed with weapons our ribs cannot withstand, we need to put on righteousness as a breastplate. We need something more than our natural defence — not to replace it, but to supplement it.
We need Christ Jesus. His righteousness is far superior to our own. By His work, He provided His righteousness for us — we can now firmly fit the breastplate of righteousness around our hearts. Our own righteousness is simply not good enough. We see this shortcoming in our own lives whenever we try to face temptation by our own power. Isaiah 64:6 tells us our righteousness is like filthy rags. The good news is that we have access to His righteousness instead. We do not generate our own breastplate — we receive it from Christ (Ephesians 2:8–9). Now we have to actually put it on and wear it (Ephesians 4:24). Not our own, but His! We see Him wear this very righteousness as a breastplate in Isaiah 59:17. We can stand firm with His armor guarding our hearts, placing our trust in His work and not our own. We now stand firm in His work. So stand boldly, representing your King, holding the ground He has tasked you to hold.
Our King left us to stand firm. Our beating hearts keep our minds focused on the task at hand. In the ranks of our fellow Christians, we stand firm. With the symphony of beating hearts, guarded by His righteousness, He receives the glory. Like a line of banners and a wall of breastplates, all bearing His Name, He will be honoured.
As we draw in our breath, our hearts distribute this life through our bodies — all guarded by the righteousness of Christ.
Looking upward: the danger of the battlefield is still very real. But the righteousness of Christ guards our hearts and keeps us safe. We rely on Him; His Name will be honoured. For victory is His.