Angry Birds

Angry Birds is a silly, mindless game available on the iPhone and iPad, and since I don’t have one of those devices, I am excited that it is now a free download for Google Chrome. If you are unfamiliar with the game, the objective is to shoot little birds from a slingshot and destroy the pigs; pig heads to be exact, but let’s not get technical. It is important to get the correct trajectory of your bird so that it destroys as many pigs as possible.

As with any game, the first few levels are relatively easy and they become progressively more difficult. Most of the time, the pigs are protected by wood, glass, or stone walls; although there are times where a pig may be perched precariously upon a cliff or a small rock. Sometimes, the pigs may be wearing helmets, which protect the pigs from the birds or falling objects. There are even times when there is TNT in the vicinity. Of course, if something hits the TNT, it blows up and destroys everything in the area.

In the end, the pigs are destroyed…but so are the birds, so I don’t really understand why the birds are so bent on destroying the pigs in the first place.

Sometimes, the life of a Christian can be quite similar to that of the pigs. We try to protect ourselves from Satan’s little birds that are heat seeking missiles trying to destroy us. All the birds have special labels such as, hatred, lust, prejudice, slander, etc., and Satan is out there hurling these little birds at us. Sometimes, he misses completely. Sometimes, he wounds us. Sometimes, he gets a direct hit. Sometimes, we even stand by the TNT.

There are times in our life when we are behind a fortified wall. Those are the times when we are actively engaged in reading God’s Word and we involve ourselves with other Christians. These are the times that Satan’s little birds fly right over us and have absolutely no effect on our lives.

Then there are times when we let our guard down a little bit. Maybe we have been really busy and we have not dedicated ourselves to reading the Bible. Satan shoots his little bird our way and it hits that wall. The wall is compromised and maybe one of the support beams has even fallen on our head, wounding us. Satan will always kick us when we are down. He is always watching and he knows when we have let our guard down. He will sneak in and seek to destroy us even when we think that we are protected.

Remember that TNT? Everyone has a little TNT (alcohol, porn, gossip, anger) in their life. There is that one thing that you just can’t seem to avoid. It never fails. As soon as you get too close, Satan fires away one of his little birds, but he won’t miss the TNT. He hits it every single time. It explodes in your face.

What a blessing we have in Christ. He is always there to pick up the pieces of our broken lives. We all fail from time to time. Sometimes our walls just aren’t as fortified as they should be. I’m so thankful that Christ forgives over and over and over. I’m so thankful that Christ picks us up and is always willing to refortify us.

How strong is your fort? Are you wearing the armor? Satan is out there waiting and he will get us every time if we do not protect ourselves by devoting ourselves to the fellowship of the saints and the daily reading of his word.

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Eph. 6:13-18 NIV)