The other day, I went to one of my grandson’s football game. Like most sporting events, the fans — in this case, mostly parents — were yelling words of encouragement as well as instructions to the referees.
One thing I quickly picked up on was the ignorance — I didn’t say stupidity — of some fans; they simply did not know the rules of the game. For instance, a defensive player was pulling down the offensive player trying to tackle him and a fan was screaming, “He’s holding, he’s holding, throw the flag.” The rule of the game is that that defensive player’s role is to tackle the guy with the ball, even if the only way to bring him to the ground is by stretching his shirt out.
On to the spiritual application. The truth is that many people don’t know the rules that apply to being able to end up in heaven someday. The truth is that not everyone will end up there.
The truth is that there is a rule book known as the Bible. The Bible makes it clear that there is only one path to God, and that is through accepting his son, Jesus Christ, as Lord and savior. We must feel sorry for our sins, which leads to confessing them and then believing by faith that God will forgive them based on the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.
Some come up with their own rules, which are anything from “I’m a good person” to “I belong to a church and that makes me illegible for heaven.”
No harm really is done when fans don’t quite get the rules right in sports, but the truth of the matter is that not getting the rules for salvation right has eternal consequences.
We need to know the rules in life
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