Ephesians 6:11-12: “Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
One of the objectives of an offensive coach in football is to prepare against the defenses of the opposing team (and vice versa for the defensive coach preparing for the offenses). The offensive coach (and the quarterback, depending on the his ability to change plays) must be able to decipher what defense is going to be thrown against his team and find a play to counter and/or prevail against that play. The defensive coach must call out the formation that will allow his team to penetrate the offensive protection and get the ball carrier. (This is why I call football “chess played with bulldozers”. 🙂 ) Sometimes these strategies are called plays or formations; they are also called “schemes”.
The devil is always scheming to find a way to trip Christians up. This is why we need to put on the full armor of God. We are going up against a supernatural enemy…and guess what? He doesn’t play fair! The devil has more dirty conniving tricks in his playbook than college football champions have trophies! My wife made a great observation when we discussed this devotion; the devil will mask his schemes depending on our ages and spiritual maturity. He doesn’t want you to see him coming; if you’re preparing for a pass defense, he’ll make it look that way…and then hit you with an all-out blitz!
A good coach doesn’t send his team out unprepared…and God doesn’t want you unprepared either. Crack open His playbook today (the Bible) and get ready to armor up. It’s game time!
Have a blessed day!
Combing The Word 
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