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Reason to Hope





and the helmet of salvation on his head; (Isaiah 59:17b)

Take the helmet of salvation... (Ephesians 6:17a)

and the hope of salvation as a helmet. (I Thessalonians 5:8c)
 

       Helmets protect the head and face and therefore the brain. In classical thinking, as the belly is the seat of emotions, and the heart is the home of the will, so the head is the locus of our thoughts. As I read the verse in Ephesians, I couldn't figure out how salvation protects thoughts. I checked the cross references in my study Bible.. That's how I found out that the idea of the helmet being associated with salvation wasn't a new idea. Isaiah wrote about it. That didn't help my understanding, but it reminded me of how interconnected and consistent Scripture is. My study Bible also led me to I Thessalonians, where Paul provided the needed clue. The head is the locus of our thoughts, and our hope of salvation is what protects our thoughts.
       A hope is not the same as a wish. We may wish or want something   to happen. We may say "I hope Aunt Jane comes to visit us someday." The focus there is on the emotions, but I'm not sure it's hope.  We may will something to happen, but that is not hope. In order to hope, one generally has cause or reason to believe. Hope is a thing of the mind. It's "Aunt Jane will arrive on Friday, let's start cleaning the house, cooking the food and getting ready!" Our hope in salvation is not a "maybe I am, maybe I'm not, but I hope I am," but an "I am, and therefore I'm going to live like it!" It protects our minds from distortions of our thinking and from confusion. This is part of the transformation wrought by the renewing our minds (Romans 12:2). It is why we do not have a spirit of fear, but of power, and love and a sound mind (II Timothy 1:7 KJV. The NASB and the NIV translate it "discipline.")(emphasis mine.)
       Something else about helmets that speaks of hope. Helmets can restrict our view. We may not notice things that are blocked by the helmet, which means that our focus is kept on the more narrow range or area we can see. Hope may also narrow our focus. It may cause us to give up or to limit. We might even seem to obsess about the focus of our hope, but that is part of how hope can protect. Our hope of salvation, then, helps keep our focus on the God who saves.

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