It Is WrittenSample

I Am Protected

By Marcus Brecheen

When I turned 16 years old, I got my driver’s license on a school day. After dinner that night, right before my dad gave me the keys to his car, he pulled me aside. He said, “Sit down, son. We need to talk for a second. You’ve earned your license and you’re a good driver, but there’s something else I want you to know. If you get a ticket, I’m going to take the keys away for a month.” What do you suppose happened? On the third day, I got pulled over for speeding and got a ticket. Of course, the first words out of my dad’s mouth were, “Give me your keys.” I tried to talk my way out of it but it was no use. Just like he said, I didn’t get to drive for a month. Here’s what I learned about my dad: he meant what he said. Was it rigid and unloving for him to do that? No. In fact, it was loving for him to let me drive his car in the first place. He wasn’t punishing me. He was protecting me.

Similarly, our Father in heaven loves us and wants to protect us. A lot of times, people can confuse that for being hard and rigid. But God gave us His Word to protect us; not to limit or restrict us.

Now, the very fact that you and I need to be protected implies we’re going to get some negative attention. However, there’s something important you need to understand about this negative attention you’ll be receiving: it’s not directed at you. Since the Devil can’t attack God, he comes against us and hurts us so he can hurt God. And the way he does it is by stealing the Word of God from His children. Mark 4:15 says, “Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.”

This has been happening since the beginning of creation. In Genesis 2:16–17, God commanded Adam not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, saying, “[When you] eat of it, you will surely die.” It was the very first time God sowed His Word in a man’s heart. But shortly after, Satan told Eve that God’s Word about the tree wasn’t true. He was really attacking God’s Word, not Eve. Adam and Eve saw God’s command to not eat of one tree in an entire garden as a punishment instead of protection. Once we understand that God’s Word is meant to protect us, we’ll stop seeing God as an enforcer and start seeing Him as our Father and protector.

Prayer

Father, thank You for being a good Father whose Word offers protection from the Enemy. Please guard my life as I grow closer to You through reading and obeying Your Word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Memory Verse

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped. Psalm 28:7