Aware of the Enemy's Schemes

Ephesians 6:10-17

Verse 11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

    Paul wanted his friends know why it was important for them to gear up.  They may have noticed the Christian life was counter cultural but they needed to understand what it meant for how they were to be living.  We need this same understanding in our world today.  There are many philosophies out there about how we are to get along with everyone, even some people who claim as Christians we should accept everyone, tolerating how they live.

    Paul knew the dangers of not being all God has called us to be.  As a Jewish boy he had grown up hearing all the stories of the Old Testament and as a Pharisee he had learned how important it was to live a more holy life than the world around him.  Paul saw the struggle the Israelites had in following God in the Promised Land among the people and their pagan gods.  Because they hadn’t rid the land of those false gods, they found themselves being pulled away from the Lord time and time again.  This was Paul’s fear for his friends in Ephesus.

    In his letter to his friends, Paul wanted to be clear how important it was to have a good foundation in their understanding of what the Gospel was and what it meant to be God’s people.  Only by understanding the truths of the Gospel can God’s people stand firm against the enemy and his scheming ways.

    Knowing the enemy is real is something we need to acknowledge.  If we ignore the fact he exists we won’t see the need to gear up to defeat his ploys in our lives.  We need to be aware of his activity without living in constant fear of him or being so concerned about him we make him our focus.  If he had our total focus he would be happy as it would be taking us away from the thoughts we should be having for the Lord.

    The enemy’s main goal is to distract us from the things of the Lord.  It was that fact which drove Paul to make sure his friends were prepared to stand against the temptations and misleading.  We don’t usually think of Paul as a creative person but the imagery of the armor shows he had the imagination needed to use things they knew to help them remember what he was trying to show them.

Making It Personal

    How aware are you of the enemy trying to distract you from the things of the Lord?  How familiar are you with wearing the armor to stand against him?  What piece of armor do you need the most?

Making It Personal Kids

    Do you know what the pieces of the armor are?  Why do you need the armor?  How do you put them on?

Closing Prayer

    Father, thank You for the reminder the enemy is wanting to trip us up.  Help us learn what we need to gear up for the battles which will come our way.  In Jesus’ name, amen.