My aunt always refers to Satan as ‘ol Slewfoot, and when she counteracts his attacks she declares, “Checkmate, Slewfoot!” I always laugh because it is such a funny name and such a confident way of stating victory in Christ.
I’m not too sure where the name for Slewfoot came from, but I’m almost convinced the act of slew-footing in ice hockey is based on Satan’s deceptive practices! (Pity about the ice problem).
To slew-foot in ice hockey means a player uses his leg to take someone off balance from behind by sweeping the back of their knee, in order to kick an opponent’s feet from under him – which tends to result in injury because the victim falls really hard and often hits his head. It is considered the dirtiest cheap shot a hockey player can do – because it is unexpected and sneaky!
Christians, in a way, are ice hockey players – except we have more victory than worldly players having the power in Christ to prevent us from falling on that ice.
So important about this infraction is that it is only considered slew-footing when the player is sneakily approached from the back. I had recently shared the revelation God had given me concerning my dad’s salvation and how Satan attacks from the back – sneaky, cowardly and cheap. Our hockey uniform is the armour of God. We are to put on our armour daily (Eph 6:11).
Every soldier needs solid footing. The Roman soldiers had spikes under their shoes so that it gave good grip and kept them stable during war. The good news of peace is what gives us our footing. We already have that peace in Jesus (Acts 10:36) – only doubt from the enemy takes it away. As soon as we doubt, take offense, dwell in condemnation or guilt our heads hit the icy floor and we are swarmed with confusion. The spirit of fear takes over and we are no longer operating with a sound mind.
We also stand on solid ground – Christ, the Rock of our salvation. With legs of marble supporting and bearing us up (Song of Sol 5:15), we will not slip or lose our balance (Psalms 18:36)
Slew-footing tends to be used by smaller, weaker players to gain advantage on the stronger players – this makes it easier for them to get the puck. Isn’t that typically Satan? The one who has already lost the game, but will try by all means to drive us off our path and bring us to sit on the loser’s bench with him.
One way a ‘slew-footer’ gets the victim to fall on the ice, is by dragging the skate with his hockey stick. Goliath’s spear had rope on it and the rope was attached to Goliath’s wrist. The purpose of this was once he hit his enemy he could drag that victim back to himself. So once wounded, he could not get away. If those fiery darts hit us, do we stay still on the cold ice wounded by offenses and hard trials, or do we get back up and fight back with our own hockey stick – our sword, which is the Word of God! (Eph 6:17)
When slew-footing happens, match penalties are assessed by the referee. Jesus Christ is our mediator, our referee (1 Tim 2:5). He will bind up our wounds (Psalms 147:3) and place Satan on suspension!
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