The Balloon

  I was thinking about spiritual warfare today, and came up with the idea of illustrating the way the devil attacks like a blown up balloon, available to be popped.
   Balloons seem to hold a fascination for kids. You could buy an expensive toy and a balloon, and they would probably prefer the balloon. You can also attach tracts to balloons and fill them with helium, then send them off! You never know where they will end up.
   No one likes it when a balloon pops though! Ouch, that was loud!
   I believe you can put Scotch tape around a balloon and you could put a sharp object through the Scotch tape and it will not pop. You could completely surround the balloon with Scotch tape and you would have a totally secure balloon that won't pop. The problem is though, that it is impossible to completely cover a balloon with Scotch tape. There will be some exposed area, that we probably won't see.
  We are to be fully clad with the Armor of God as illustrated in Ephesians 6. If there are any places that are left uncovered, oops, pop! No, the devil will send arrows though. He will only be able to get into the places that are left unguarded. He has eyes that will be able to find those places that aren't covered. His darts come in the way of temptation to sin. Of course, the sins we will be tempted to do are not the ones which are obvious to us. They will be sins that won't be obvious to us.
   How many times have we seen a pastor fall into sin. How could this happen? It happens when we have unguarded places in our spiritual armor. That's why we are to be on guard when it comes to temptations to sin. We could fall too, and bring dishonor to God as well.
   I have to think of the story of Ahab. He was a king of Israel, but was very prideful. The day for battle came. He had his armor on, but the enemy sent his arrow to kill him. The arrow just happened to hit Ahab between the armor and the breast plate. There was one vulnerable place, and the arrow happened to land there.
   The devil will find that one vulnerable place that we don't see and isn't covered. We can pray for God to show us where we would be vulnerable. Read through Ephesians chapter six to find out about the spiritual armor we are to have on.