Get Your Bonnet

By Jerry D. Ousley

            I preached a sermon one time entitled, “The Bonnet Story.”  It was based in the Old Testament, King James Version of the Bible where the priests were told to wear bonnets.  Believe me, it’s in there.  Six times in the King James Old Testament it actually uses the word “bonnets.”  That message was also based on the old-fashioned bonnets that my grandma used to wear.  In fact, when I preached this message, I actually came to the pulpit wearing one of grandma’s old bonnets!  I managed to draw a good deal of laughter but I also got their undivided attention as I presented the message God had given me wearing that bonnet.  I looked ridiculous but it worked.

            The New King James Version interprets the same word as “hat.”  Other versions may use cap.  Of course, in the custom of the Mid-East what was actually worn was a turban of sorts, made as God had instructed Moses to make it.  It was a covering over the head of the priest worn as a sign of being humbled before God.  It was custom to cover one’s head in the presence of someone superior to him.

            Grandma wore her bonnet for a completely different reason.  Oh, she was humble before the Lord.  In fact, she loved the Lord as much as anyone I have ever known.  She was a great inspiration to me and even though I looked ridiculous and silly wearing a woman’s bonnet in the pulpit, secretly I was honored to have her bonnet on my head.  But her reason for wearing a bonnet was to shield the sun from her head and keep it out of her eyes as she worked in the outdoors in gardens and such.  It was a tool to her, just like a baseball cap is to a ball player.  It was like a soldier’s helmet, worn to protect the head from injury.

            Paul wrote about our spiritual head covering.  He had been locked up in prison because of his testimony of Christ.  Actually, he had appealed to Caesar, which was his right as a natural born Roman citizen.  They had attempted to kill him in Jerusalem and he had been locked up, as much for his own protection as anything else, while they tried to determine what his crime was.  After the Jewish leaders had sent a hired, eloquent lawyer to bring their accusations against Paul before the Roman leader, Paul knew he had to get out of Israel, because he didn’t have a chance of a fair trial there.  So, he exercised his right to take his matter directly to the Roman dictator and he appealed to Caesar.

            Until he could gain audience before Caesar, he was transported to Rome where he was allowed to have his own living quarters, yet he still was bound under guard of the Roman soldiers.  I can picture Paul as he wrote the letter to the Church at Ephesus, sitting on the floor, dictating his words to Tychicus, who wrote for Paul because of his eyes and large handwriting.  He looked over at the Roman guard across from him.  They man may have been standing erect or because of boredom, my have sat leaning against the wall asleep.  Paul looked him over taking careful consideration of his armor and military dress.  He began to talk about taking on the whole armor of God.  You can read it for yourself in Ephesians 6:10-18.  Paul listed what he saw, comparing each to something we need in our walk with God, as we do spiritual battle with the devil.

            In verse 17 he said, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.”  Now, honestly, in our modern era of warfare, the bullets they use can plow right through those steel pots worn on their heads.  I know this because once, in a basic training exercise, we were on the field using live rounds in our practice.  Afterwards we were sent out to “police” the area.  In other words, we were there to pick up the brass shell casings discharged from our weapons during the exercise.  In the process of doing that I found a practice grenade that had a hull about half an inch thick that had been penetrated by one of the M16 rounds.  That told me that the steel helmets we wore on our heads didn’t offer as much protection as we thought.

            But in the days of Paul no guns were used.  They had spears and swords.  A sword struck against a helmet would deflect the weapon so protecting the head.  It was an important piece of armor for the soldier, and the helmet of salvation is also an important piece of spiritual armor for the believer in Christ.  It protects us from the spiritual blows to the head dealt by the enemy.  It protects our brains which we must fill with the word of God.  The devil is always trying to interject thoughts of evil in our minds. We deflect his attacks by focusing on what the Bible says and turning to Jesus in prayer when those thoughts begin to attack us.  Is it always easy?  No, of course not.  It does take discipline to protect our minds.

            So, folks, go get your bonnets.  Put on the helmet of salvation – the free gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, who will then help to protect us from the evil thoughts hurled at us by the devil.  Resist him and he will flee from you! (James 4:7)

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.