When The Rules Don't Fit The Game

We see it in the quiet desperation of our souls, the lifeless sacrifices by the road side, in our villages, in the cities, men have sacrificed on altars of clay, of gold and of flesh, for ages the heart of man has cried for atonement.

Thousands, millions, if not billions of sacrificed rams, goats, fowls and sometimes humans will bear testimony to this; the plea for forgiveness.
Besides forgiveness, man has looked outside of himself for help, from time immemorial, He has known of a power greater than him; he has seen it in the rise and fall of the sea, the gentle roar of the thunder, the majestic view of the hilltop, the beauty of the lilies, the beauty of the rainbow, the blossom of the flower and in the face of a baby. Man needing no schooling had known that this world wasn’t for ours only.

In Man’s search for a higher power, He has found names for his findings, He has built majestic altars to them, have carved wood, molded clay, cast iron, bronze, silver and gold, He has made sacred items, foods, animals and performed rites.

Man has gone out of his way to find an object of worship, in the stars, the moon, in angels, in demons and in ourselves.

Modern man came along, smoldering with knowledge, freed of the burden of silly superstition, of “faith’s irrationality, stupidity and obvious lack of objectivity “and has created a God of himself.

He has made goddess of vain beauty, of Madonna’s and mascara babes and has worshipped at her altar. Man has worshipped at the altar of music, of drama, sports and automobiles; his very creation.

As if that were not enough he has at will destroyed himself in the name of women rights, aborting potentialities while fighting for forest preservation and animal rights. Man has given much attention to the kangaroo of Australia, the extinct wildlife of years gone by, the marvels of mars and the moon than the unborn babies in the womb, the dying children in Sudan. We care more for our alligator leather shoes and bags than the alligator, and more for alligator survival than for unborn babies, even when we care for the babies we do so in no different manner than a mother chimpanzee will do for her kids if not less.

A noted scholar looked at the situation and concluded that we have educated ourselves to imbecility, we have romanticized ourselves to impotency and excited ourselves to incredulity that should a young lady adore herself with twice the efforts of a mortician, of paints, colors and shades we would clap, gasp and utter “she looks just like herself, doesn’t she?”.
We are a stranger to ourselves and the sad news is that we might never meet.

To a follower of Jesus Christ who is entangled in this maze in which we often find ourselves albeit without intending to, a lingering cry had been:

Oh Lord what kind of Life do you want me to live?
From whence shall I get the power to live such a Life?
What’s the quality of life you want me to live?
The answer: Be different from the rest of the World.

In the sermon of the mount a message someone aptly dubbed “Christian counter culture” we find the ways of a Holy God.

Jesus is not telling His disciples “in the world you will have tribulations, let’s pack our bags and leave” rather He said “in the world you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”

We are not fighting for victory, we are fighting from victory.

There is a continuous tension between the World and the ways of a Holy God. We are not of this world.


“From the canyons of the mind,
We wander on and stumble blind,
Way through the often tangled maze
Of starless night and sunless days,
Hoping for some kind of a clue
A road to lead us to the truth,
Who will answer, who will answer?

Is our hope in wars not in shells?
Worn round the neck with temple bells
Or deep within some clustered walls
With hooded figures playing shells
Or high upon some dusty shelves
Or in the stars or in ourselves
Who will answer, who will answer?

If the soul is darkened by a fear it cannot name,
When the mind is baffled
And the rules don’t fit the game
Who will answer, who will answer who will answer

Dr. Ravi in “Can man Live without God.”

“Who” will answer?
It is therefore reassuring my friends that in Jesus, the eternal contemporary, we find the answer.

“IS ANYONE THIRSTY?” HE SAID, “LET HIM COME”………………”I AM THE WAY, I AM THE TRUTH, NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT BY ME”