“All great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.”

-William Bradford

Fall is in full swing, Thanksgiving is upon us, and it’s almost cold enough to unfold our sweaters, sip a hot pumpkin spice latte, and curl up by the fireside with a great book. For me, that book is Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford. If you haven’t read it yet, you can find a free audio version here. 

Bravery and Faith

The whole book of Ephesians is inspiring, but chapter six is a favorite because it teaches us about the armor of God. His armor connects every Christian throughout history, which means that we wear the same armor as the Pilgrims did. 

They left everything they knew to cross the Atlantic Ocean to worship God in peace. What bravery and faith they had!

To me, the courage and grit of the Pilgrims sheds a new light on what it means to wear God’s armor in difficult times. William Bradford, the governor of the Plymouth Colony, acknowledged that the Puritans were in a spiritual battle when living in Europe.

In his book Plymouth Settlement, he wrote that when Satan could not stop the truths of the gospel from spreading in England, he reverted to persecution. He sowed seeds of heresies, errors, and discord in the clergy. This corruption struck the Puritans, but they fought back.

Girded at the waist with truth, their breastplate of righteousness fastened, their shield of faith gripped, and their helmet of salvation on their heads, the Pilgrims won over a wild land that no other European settlement had tamed before them.

Worthy of Celebrating

Thanksgiving is the time we remember the Pilgrims and all they faced and fought. They strove for the very unity that Ephesians teaches. They fought a spiritual battle and conquered. We too rejoice in that victory of religious freedom and partake in the victory feast!