Russian Roulette

For those who don’t know what Russian roulette is, it was a dangerous game played with a revolver?  People who played it would put one bullet in a six or more cylinder gun, spin the cylinder, aim the gun at their head and pull the trigger.  I believe the game originated in Russia, but since then it has been played in various places around the world resulting in numerous deaths.

I want to relate this game to the Christian community and I am going to call it Christian roulette.  I think many Christians play this game often.

Before I get too far in this tidbit, I want to include non-Christians, they are playing this game every day even if they aren’t using guns.  Let me explain, when people take drugs, including alcohol, and are sexually involved outside of marriage, watch porn, literally commit adultery or commit it in their minds or a host of other things I could name, they are also playing Russian roulette.  Homosexuals are playing Russian roulette because of the aids epidemic plus other factors.  But the worst thing of all for the non-Christian is their total rebellion and rejection of the Lord.  All of the things I mentioned can and do cause serious problems for each individual.

Now let’s get into the spiritual realm talking about what I call Christian roulette.  First I want to start out with this, not everything that has happened to us is our fault.  There are things that we were born with like my ear problems and also my tremor.  I have had problems with my ears as far back as I can remember probably since I was born but I had nothing to do with this problem.  Then there is the tremor, I don’t know of anything I have done that would have caused the problem, there are also things that we inherit from our parents.  

But there are many things we bring on ourselves and often times we blame the Lord or someone else for them.  The Bible says in Galatians 6:6-8, ”Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”    

        

Think about what you do pretty consistently; I mean things that may be harmful or are harmful that you do; things that you know you shouldn’t do but you do them anyway.  There are many things that happen in our lives that we can’t control but there are many things that we can control but we don’t choose to.  Many of these things have, or will end up, devastating our lives.  How many things do we do that cause us negative consequences that we either blame on the Lord or some other source when we are the guilty party?  Trying to compare one sin to another or maybe trying to condone one or the other is senseless; sin is sin in God’s eyes and I think we all know what the wages of sin is.  Just to be clear, God’s Word says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We need to call sin what the Lord calls it, sin, and take responsibility for our own sin.  Stop trying to look for excuses for it and take proper steps to eradicate it from our lives.  The Bible says in James 4:17, “Anyone then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

The Bible also says this, Moses speaking to the Israelites about rebelling against what God wanted them to do, in Numbers 32:20-23, “Then Moses said to them, ‘If you will do this—if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for battle, and if all of you will go armed over the Jordan before the LORD until he has driven his enemies out before him—then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free from your obligation to the LORD and to Israel.  And this land will be your possession before the LORD. ‘But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.’”

If we try to deny our sin, or hide it, we will be found guilty because the Lord knows about it already.  So stop kidding yourself and take responsibility for your own sins and confess them and repent.  Don’t forget some things you may think are in the gray area; if you are being convicted over them, don’t ignore them, deal with them before you run into the consequences that are inevitable.  Better to put the fire out now than to get burned later.  

This is a hard lesson and probably not what you want to hear, but if you are guilty or not, it is one we all need to hear.  This message isn’t just for you but it is for me also.  God bless you and have a great day!!