As a pastor, I’ve had many people pray for a “hedge of protection” around me. I’ve also prayed it for other people. Maybe you have too.

But what is it? And where does the idea come from?

As far as I can tell it comes from the biblical book of Job. Job was a faithful and prosperous man. In a fascinating conversation with Satan, God commends Job: “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8).

In response, Satan says, “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?” (Job 1:10) Satan claims that God has put a “hedge” around Job.

The word used for “hedge” implies a barrier of thorns—a protecting wall. More specifically, it is a protecting wall against the forces of evil.

Friends, there is real evil in our world. There is human evil. And there is satanic evil. The good news, however, is that God is greater!

Today, why not ask God to provide a hedge of protection around your thoughts, around your actions, around the people you love, around your neighbours, and around the church?

In Ephesians 6:16 Paul offers a word of counsel which continues to be powerfully relevant for us today: “take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

By Matthew Ruttan

–This Sunday I’ll be preaching about “Race and the Kingdom of God.” If you don’t already have a church home, you’re invited to join in here at 10:01am online.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.