B.....A.....T.....T.....L.....E.....BATTLE!

Two girls already on base ready to run at the crack of the bat. The next batter puts on her batting helmet, steps up to the plate, taps home base once with her metal bat then gets into her hitting stance, clutching the bat in her hands as she eyes the pitcher. Her teammates in the dugout start a chant, B.....A.....T.....T.....L.....E.....BATTLE! Battle...battle...battle...BATTLE! B.....A.....T.....T.....L.....E.....BATTLE! Battle...battle...battle...BATTLE! It's a cheer I heard last Friday at a girls JV softball game. My friends Mallorie and Mandie coach at Northview HS. Their girls use this cheer whenever their teammate goes up to bat against the pitcher. The cheer keeps echoing through my mind. Some of you may have heard it before. It's used more often when a batter keeps fouling the ball in an effort not to strike out. In softball, pitchers will mainly throw fast balls, risers, changeups and curve balls in an attempt to get the batter out. Batters will battle in the box one ball after another against the pitchers pitches until she slugs a hit past the infield to get on base.

It's a picture of the great controversy, the battle between good and evil. I'm visualizing the whole scenario of a batter going up against a pitcher who throws all sorts of fast balls, curve balls, etc. The devil throws at us all sorts of temptations, some fast, some slow. At times a curve ball that comes out of nowhere. He's doing everything he can to strike us out. The pressures on, we step up to the plate, clutching the bat in our hands, ready to battle. The devil is the pitcher. The ball is the temptation. The batter represents us. The helmet is salvation. And the bat represents the Bible. B.....A.....T.....T.....L.....E.....BATTLE! Battle...battle...battle...BATTLE! What are you going to do? How will you handle stepping up to the plate?

The New Testament writers give us some battling tips:

Paul says, "Take your stand against the devil's schemes, to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

James says, "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

John says, "I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one."

It seems to me that the Word of God is key to battling against the devil. Without it, you're hopeless. It would be like stepping up to the plate without a bat. There are of course times when we fall short and the devil strikes us out. We feel worthless. But don't lose hope. For Paul writes in Romans "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. If God is for us, who can be against us? We are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

When all else fails, remember what God has done! He's given us His son at just the right time. And he battled for us! He is our Coach, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So step up to the plate with your bat, a conqueror, and B.....A.....T.....T.....L.....E.....BATTLE!