Playing the right game

 This week's verses are Ephesians 6:10-12:

Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand 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 rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

  These verses come after a frank discussion of slavery that would be shocking to our modern ears. We would expect Paul to have preached fire and brimstone to the slave owners, but instead he just basically said, "regardless of your circumstances just try to be excellent to each other." But these verses explain why.

Paul is telling us here that we should focus on God and our place in his universe, not on the external things in our lives. Rather than focusing on slavery, we should be concerned about the depravity and separation from God that causes it to occur. This is the priority Jesus modeled for us too. Rather than ending the injustice of Roman colonialism and exploitation of Israel, Jesus urged people to get right with God.

We forget that we are part of an eternal story and that there are actual forces in the universe trying to ruin our part in it. Paul refers to the devil, and to powers of darkness and spiritual forces of evil. Those things actually exist. They're pitiful compared to God, but if we cooperate with them their weakness doesn't matter. They still win and we still lose.

Paul urges us to recognize how mighty God is. God is so strong that he makes us strong. He can give us his protection. When there is evil afoot, we don't have to participate in it. When misfortune is coming our way, it doesn't have to find us. We need to keep our eyes on God.

When we focus on God, we begin to see his eternal perspective. We become less upset about knowing about people who are richer than us than we do about our own greed. Pollution and the economy become less important to us than dealing with the lust in our heart. Wars and conflicts and immigration crises pale in comparison to the reality that billions of souls are bound for hell right now.

This is our life. We focus on God and we try to be near him and his infinite power, and in turn some of that gets refracted through us and the world sees it. Our compassion is different. Our values become different. And each of those things is a tiny victory for God's kingdom over these weak powers of darkness that try to trash our world.

So take a step back this week and look at your choices and what concerns you: Which game are you playing? The eternal game? Or the series of distractions and traps our enemy would like to entice us into? What would it take to be strengthened in the Lord and the strength of his power, and pursue his path of victory?