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That Wild Devil!

chalkboardThat ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6.11)

What are wiles? “Oh I know. It is that Christian camp in North Carolina, ‘Camp of the Wiles’!” Nope. “It is a long time. As in, ‘its been a wile since I last saw you’?” Nope. “It is the plural of wild?” Nope. “O.K. I give up. What is ‘wiles’?”

The Free Dictionary gives the following definition:

wile  (wl) n.
1. A stratagem or trick intended to deceive or ensnare.
2. A disarming or seductive manner, device, or procedure: the wiles of a skilled negotiator.
3. Trickery; cunning.
tr.v. wiled, wil·ing, wiles
1. To influence or lead by means of wiles; entice.
2. To pass (time) agreeably: wile away a Sunday afternoon.

The wild old Devil knows how to use his wiles to wreak havoc and wreck us. Other Bible versions have these synonyms for the word wiles: pitfalls, schemes, tricks, deceits or strategies. Thus the word is packed with evil potency.

Continuing with my football memories and relating to the Devil’s ‘wiles’ I remember one play that we young Wildcats had that seemed to trick the other team every time. It was called the Biebuck keeper. Thinking about it now it was not that complicated. Our quarterback, whose name was Bill Biebuck, would call the play in the huddle. As he barked out the numbers and called “HIKE” he would whip around and feign a hand-off to the full back who dove through the defensive line. However, Bill would hug the ball to his own belly while feigning another handoff to the half back who was sweeping wide. As the halfback hit the line Bill would again yank the ball from him and sweep even wider while cutting up field.

Biebuck was using wiles. We’d gain much ground because he was such a great faker. I didn’t keep track of how many games we won with that simple play but it worked very well.

The Devil gains a lot of ground with his tricky plays too. That is why Paul warns us about his wiles. We need to be strong in the Lord so that the Devil’s tricks don’t fake us out. Like a good linebacker we need to focus on the enemy and never take our eyes off the spiritual ball. We need to be so familiar with the play-book that we aren’t fooled.

We need to know that tricks are a part of the game so that we are ready for whatever comes. With our feet firmly planted on the Rock, our minds filled with the Book and our knees toughened in prayer we will have little difficulty in seeing through the Biebuck keeper. It is not that complicated. FIFTY-THREE! SEVENTY-ONE! HUT! HUT!

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