PLAYING GAMES AT THE CROSS?
"And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take." Mark 15:24
While Jesus was bleeding and gasping and dying on Mount Calvary, calloused Roman soldiers were playing games at the foot of the cross. They were throwing dice to see who would get what of Jesus’ clothing. Amazing! Here was God in the flesh, dying for the sins of humanity, paying the ultimate price for redemption … and these soldiers were totally oblivious and unconcerned. How tragic! Yet it serves as a vivid picture of so many people today.
THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
Many come to church Sunday after Sunday. They sing the songs, they hear the sermon, and they may even teach or serve or sing in the choir … but all the while they are playing games with God. They are not right with Him. They are not really surrendered and yielded to Him. They are not seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. They know there is unconfessed sin and compromise in their lives, but they would rather play the game and go through the motions than to truly get serious and deal with their sin. The saddest part of the whole charade is this: they think no one knows the truth.
Newsflash: God knows everything about us. He sees it all. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). Not only does God know the real truth, those in tune with God also sense when someone is playing games with the Lord. The spiritually discerning can tell fairly quickly if someone is truly filled with the Spirit or simply filled with self.
PUTTING AN END TO THE GAME
Life is too short to waste it playing games with God. There is too much at stake. People who do not know Jesus are watching you to see if this “Christianity thing” is genuine, to see if Jesus really does make the difference. If you are living a dual life–one way on Sunday and another way during the week–you are keeping unbelievers from Christ, not drawing them to Him.
The issue is simple: does God truly love you and me and want what is best for us? If so, then you and I would be foolish indeed to not surrender completely to His will and His ways.
Would you take some time right now and ask the Lord to show you areas in your life where there may be hypocrisy and unconfessed sin (Psalm 139:23-24)? Ask Him to show you if there is any bitterness, any unresolved hurt, any immorality or selfishness that you have not properly dealt with. Take whatever He convicts you of and put it under His blood. He wants to make you white as snow and crown your life with His peace and presence. He cannot do that, however, unless you throw away the dice and put an end to the game. Will you do it?
Love,
Pastor Jeff Schreve,
From His Heart Ministries
Dr. Jeff Schreve believes that no matter how badly you may have messed up in life, God still loves you and has a wonderful plan just for you. From His Heart provides real truth, love and hope on over 700 radio stations each day, in 182 countries each week on TV, and is always available online. Pastor Jeff takes no income from this ministry. All donations go to furthering the broadcast outreach. As a listener/viewer supported ministry, we thank you for joining with us to help speak the truth in love to a lost and hurting world. Go to www.fromhisheart.org for more information.
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