Ephesians 6:11 — Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Somewhat to the surprise of a lot of people, at the age of ten I did well enough in a qualifying examination to get a place at the best regarded middle / high school in the area where we lived. It has a dress code. Since the first day of the new school year — more than fifty years ago now — I have been in uniform. Even now, living in Southwest Florida where it truly isn’t necessary, you will find me wearing a jacket and tie most work days and Sundays. You might ask why I haven’t kicked back and relaxed. It’s pretty simple. The simple act of putting on the uniform puts me in the right frame of mind — for work or worship.

I think that’s what Paul is talking about when he talks about putting on the armor provided by God. Every day we need to get out of bed, get up and get ready. The Amplified Bible provides a great description of the armor:

Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God, And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace. Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one]. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God. (Ephesians 6:14-17).

Each day we face spiritual attacks. Paul says “get yourself ready, every day, to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news of the Gospel of peace”. It’s a conscious process — day by day we need to put on each part of the armor, thinking of it’s special place in our protection.
The old English Puritan Thomas Watson wrote of our need to “provoke ourselves to duty”:

Provoking ourselves to duty, implies an uniting, and rallying together all the powers of our soul, setting them on work in the exercises of religion. A man saith to his thoughts, be you fixed on God in this duty; and to his affections, do you serve the Lord without distraction? Matters of religion must be done with intenseness of spirit. (The Christian Soldier, or Heaven Taken by Storm).

It is that “provoking to duty” that is the purpose of putting on the full armor of God. You might think I’m a little funny with my bodily uniform — my jacket and tie — but there’s nothing funny about the armor. Don’t go out without it!