Fast 40: Practicing the Ancient Spiritual Discipline of Lentნიმუში

I’d like to think the helmet of salvation follows the shield of faith because it represents the virtue of hope. Thomas Aquinas defines hope as “a future good, difficult but possible to obtain.” Hope is called a “helmet” because, by it, our mind is protected so it can focus on the salvation of our soul, much like an architect will focus on the blueprint in order to build.

As Christians, our ultimate salvation is yet to be completed. We are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. That means every battle we fight, every enemy we face, every obstacle in our way is trying to prevent us from obtaining our final salvation—trying to distract us from our journey to heaven, trying to prevent us from living in the kingdom of God, and, most importantly, trying to prevent the kingdom of God from living in us.

But hope defends us against that evil assault. Hope keeps us in the fight, keeps us from getting discouraged, and helps us press on. As Paul says, we must persevere “in hope of winning the mastery, as Christ Jesus has won the mastery over me” (Philippians 3:12). Christ has won the victory over every enemy, which means, by His grace, we can win the victory too! That’s why we must “leave the past behind” and “reach forward to those things which are ahead” (Philippians 3:13). Press on!