Checkmate!
Photo courtesy of Bubba73 at en.wikipedia
If you think about it, the continual battle between good and evil takes place every day in our world… in our daily lives. Everyone is a player in this game of spiritual warfare, in one way or another… and, yes, we can ALL be caught on either side of this table. The ONLY man who ever lived a life entirely on the good side was Jesus.
A while back fellow blogger Moe wrote a piece about Chess… I don’t really remember all that much about it (other than joking around with Moe on Twitter for half a day… lol…)… but he did help inspire this one, for sure!
Checkmate! The Battle Between Good And Evil
The game of Chess…
when we’re ready to break it out of the box…
just who are the players…
and how do we move or jive on this board?
Up first, the players…
The King and Queen…Â these two pieces represent prominence and power… they’re the select elite that we protect with honor and at all costs. Crafty… stealth… they know the game and play it well. They can be sneaky… manipulative or controlling at their worst… or warm… gentle… and caring when living in the light and on the straight and narrow pathway across the chessboard.
The Bishop… he has a religious overtone just by name… and these soldiers are dressed for the occasion. This man works on a slant… he moves diagonally across the chess board… As we well know, the Bishops are not immune to sin… heaven forbid the tabloids get wind of ANY religious leader committing a sin… it may be blown out of proportion to Chick-Fil-Amplitude!
The Knight…Â the night is dark and generally that’s when people think evil lurks… however, we find a knight on both sides of the table here… and we know for certain the evil one can work by day and night.
The Rook…Â you may also call him The Castle… this dude is no rookie when it comes time to get down on the chess board. The Rook has a crisp, clean move and is a key player… in fact, “rook” means chariot in the original Persian language… and chariots were the chief vehicle of both peace and war in ancient times.
The Pawn…Â this little man moves slowly but still is a valuable player in the game… as we will see the Pawn has some special moves…
And now the moves…
Each piece that comes out of the box and goes on the board has a different move. It’s sort of like ballroom dancing… one player is really good at the cha cha cha… someone else the tango.
En Passant…Â yep, we’re getting fancy and French here again today… but I didn’t just dream this one up! En Passant is an actual chess move… I would try to explain but it’s sort of like offsides in soccer… not relevant to know unless you’re actually playing in the game. This is a tactical move for the Pawn…Â Oui Oui…
The Promotion…Â I just knew this would come up again as the new school year is just around the corner… this move is recognition for a little man pawn who successfully makes it all the way… across the chess board to the other side. Yep, we all sing “kum ba yah” and this Pawn is now a queen, bishop, knight or rook!
Castling…Â While we now call him The Rook… one of his key moves is called Castling. It’s purely a defensive posturing of sticking the King in a safe place. There’s nothing chicken about this one… it’s just a wise move.
And how we play the game…
In the game of chess, high standards of ethics and etiquette are expected… in life, unfortunately, it doesn’t always occur like that…
The devil can take you or me with him when we least expect it… he can work through a variety of means to take away our righteousness… he will often use other people to entice us… his list is long and sordid…
Sexual immorality… impurity… lust… hatred… discord… jealousy… anger… selfish ambition… dissension… arrogance… envy… murder… idolatry… witchcraft… drunkenness… wild living… cheating… adultery… orgies and the like… greed… stealing… and lying.
Ouch!
That’s a pretty ugly list, right?
The devil of darkness may work through his king and queen who move their pawns around like minions… the pawns are expendable and used strategically to get a one up on the good guys… expendable… yep, an appropriate word of how they deploy people for their purposes… used… to further or advance their own twisted agenda…
They may even look prim and proper… but beware… looks can be deceiving…
the wayward Christian soldier can be found on this side of the board…
pompous and boasting…
scandalous…
yep, it happens…
When we’re on God’s side we do battle with the strength and we find the goods…
The Strength comes from Ephesians 6, the armor of God…
The belt of Truth buckled around your waist…
the breastplate of Righteousness in place…
with feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace…
the Shield of Faith to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one and his knight…
the Helmut of Salvation…
and, our offensive weapon, the Sword of the Spirit… the Word of God!
The strength is all that we really need to take on the evil one in this game…
and The Goods? Yep, yippie skippy, it’s time to get fruity again!!!
Love… Joy… Peace… Patience… Kindness… Goodness… Faithfulness… Gentleness… and Self-Control
Those are some really good feeling words… it’s just butter 🙂
OK, ready for the final move…
Checkmate! This word sounds powerful… ominous… maybe because it is the LAST move we make.
Dude, the final move in this game is when Jesus returns… or when we pass from this life. Will you be living in the love on that day? My suggestion:Â Don’t wait until the end of the game to find your place on the chess board.
When it’s all said and done, we’re all going into a box… if you will… it’s what happens next that is most revealing… right?
Game over?
It’s time to put the pieces back in the box now… keep smiling because God’s great love rules… every time 🙂
“Don’t wait until the end of the game to find your place on the chessboard.” Wow–great quote, Chris! It needs to be a magnet on my fridge!
I’d like to be a lighthouse (castle) for Jesus, but am just as happy being a pawn as long as I’m being used by Him.
Great analogy, Chris. Lots of excellent points here.
…we’re all gonna end up in a box…LOL!
Sweet, I can sell refrigerator magnets now! (LOL…)
You are definitely a lighthouse Carol, and a really good one at that!
I tried to learn how to play chess. It didn’t go well. I’ll blame it on needing more caffeine.
Great post- seems like a great analogy. You educated me along the way about chess!
As a teen I began putting on the Armor of God.It’s a habit now, one that has changed my life.
Chess is easier than pinochle… the only people who know how to play pinochle are really old people and those who have been to prison (up the road)… I think I’m the only exception 😉
Hey, wait a minute — the only people who know how to play pinochle are really old people? I know how to play pinochle…oh, never mind. I AM really old…
You are NOT old Carol but you are pretty funny! (heehee)