Verse of the Day for June 28

The passage on the armour of God follows straight on from instructions about the household and the workplace. Verse nine is addressed to masters. forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven.

Then Paul says Finally, and turns to strength. The order matters. The battle he is about to describe is not only far away in some unseen realm. It is fought in how a boss treats workers, how children speak to parents, how husbands love wives. The armour is for ordinary rooms.

And the enemy's method is described in one phrase. the wiles of the devil. Wiles are schemes, tricks, slow pressure. Not usually a frontal attack, but a quiet suggestion to cut a corner, to threaten instead of reason, to give up on a hard marriage.

Doing right in those places has a real cost. The manager who refuses to cheat staff loses a bonus. The employee who will not falsify the report is passed over. Paul does not promise it will be cheap. He says be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Not ours. His.

The goal is modest and brave at once. that ye may be able to stand. Today, wherever the pressure comes, at the office or across the dinner table, aim simply to still be standing at the end of it.

The schemes against you will mostly be quiet, so your faithfulness can be quiet too.

You have a Master in heaven who sees how you treat people when it costs you.