A few years ago Amber’s side of the family decided it would be a great idea to get together around Thanksgiving. And at this family get together, it was decided we would play a rousing game of paintball.

If you have ever played paintball you know it’s really is a lot of fun. Here’s the thing though: paintballs hurt! They’re being shot from a gun, usually powered by compressed gas, at a really high velocity! Well it’s not like I’m a pro paintball player or anything so I wore some grubby clothes and dutifully donned the protective eye mask from the facility. Then I went out to do battle with my inlaws. [Let me pause here. Some of you have met my mother in law right? I mean, she’s saint. If you know Kristy, you can’t imagine her hurting a fly, am I right?]

So around midway through the game I pick her as my target. Honestly, I’m thinking this going to be pretty easy. As I approach, however, I make a crucial mistake. I trip and I fall, which reveals my location to my sweet mother in law. While I am still on the ground she takes the opportunity to just unload her weapon on me at close range. I mean she shot me so many times…and since I was on the ground my neck under my mask was completely exposed. So that’s where she shot me, of course.

It hurt. It hurt bad. I learned two lessons that day:

1) Don't underestimate your opponent. 2) Protect yourself as much as you possibly can--take care of those vulnerable spots before they are exploited by the enemy!

I think this is what Paul is getting at in his famous passage on the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-20. He’s helping us to realize who our real enemy is, and how to make our defense so we’re not caught off guard.

Stay tuned for more in this series on the Armor of God.