The Helmet of Salvation

I live in a state that doesn’t have a helmet law. Every time I drive down the freeway and see some biker pass me going 90 M.P.H., not wearing a helmet, I cringe.  I also may mutter something under my breath about how dumb he is. I’m right. In Michigan, for example, after they repealed a helmet law, biker deaths rose 18%. And get this. Bikers who have an accident resulting in head trauma, a common occurrence in such tragedies, require on average $1.3 million in medical care to recover. And 63% of that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is paid for by you and me the taxpayers. Sure you look cool with the wind in your hair. But while you’re celebrating your Easy Rider freedoms, the rest of us are picking up the bill for your indiscretion. Plus, your families will suffer the emotional trauma you inflicted on you own head.

But this blog isn’t a polemic against bikers “born to be wild.” There is a far more serious head trauma to be endured if you omit one other kind of helmet — the helmet of salvation, one of the five defensive aspects of spiritual armor recorded in Ephesians chapter six. It accompanies the “belt of truth” the “breastplate of righteousness,” the “gospel of peace” on your feet, and the “shield of faith.” Each, along with the offensive weapon of the “sword of the Spirit,” is vital, but the helmet of salvation is indispensable.  Without being saved, there is nothing to defend. It is your relationship with Christ that is foremost.  Just as it is unwise for a Harley dude to “head out on the highway” (trivia-which rock band said that?) without protective covering, so it is for you to travel the highway of life without the helmet of salvation. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast,” Ephesians 2:8-9 declares. Trust in Jesus. Get on your spiritual headgear and get ready to live, and die.