Watch Your Back

When the king of Ai saw [the Israelites], the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning, so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the plain [of the Jordan]. But he did not know there was an ambush [waiting] for him behind the city. - Joshua 8:14

It is not unusual for an army to approach an enemy (or a sports team to face a previous rival, for that matter) using the same tactics that they deployed in previous conflicts. One might deduce that since you had defeated the opposition once, then why not again? Where I grew up, we might even say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Yet, this was the mistake that lost the king of Ai his city and his life. Having defeated Israel once, he figured he could just do it again.

Most enemies don't like to lose, and this is certainly true of the Christ-follower's spiritual opposition. If you defeat him and his hordes one way, he will just change his tactics and try something else. He desires your total destruction and wishes to remove your influence in this world. He will stop at nothing to make it happen. He is also deceptively wicked and a frontal attack is rarely his approach. He may be evil, but he isn't stupid.

Watch your back.

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. - 1 Peter 5:8 (NASB 1995)