Bowling with Bumpers
If you have ever been bowling with kids, you know that the best way for them to enjoy themselves is to use the bumpers that prevent the ball from going into the ditch on one side of the lane or the other.
Given my mixed success with bowling, I sometimes wish I had a child bowling with me to be the excuse for pulling out the bumpers. It is way more fun to be assured your bowling ball will make it down the lane every time and at least hit something.
Sometimes, I wish there were bumpers on my life. I think, “how nice it would be to be assured that I could never ever make a decision, or have someone else make a decision, that cast my life into a ditch”.
We humans tend to be ditch dwellers. Take Israel, for example. We read in the Old Testament that they time after time went into slavery or oppression because of Sabbath breaking or idolatry. So, what did they do? When the finally were sent back to rebuild the temple in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, they threw the nation into the opposite ditch and put layer upon layer of detailed Sabbath rules on top of God’s Sabbath command.
It got so bad it actually came to this: Luke13:14 [NKJV] “But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day." Imagine telling the Lord of the Sabbath what can and cannot be done, by Him, on that day! (See Matthew 2:28)
I understand why the world ping-pongs from ditch to ditch like some erratic pinball game being played by the Devil himself.
But I have to wonder why either ditch so appealing to believers? While some organized religions push “nothing but faith” and completely ignore James 2:26 where it says, “For as the body without the spirt is dead, so faith without works is dead also”, and Matthew 25:31-46 that list the deeds Jesus expects to see Christians doing, others push works to the extent that it feels the same as saying that “by your works you will be saved”.
God expects faith. We cannot be saved without it. We cannot be healed without it. But the Word is also clear that there are behaviors God expects to see from those He has called, chosen and redeemed.
The Bible says, the disciples of Jesus will be known by their love for one-another. But we don’t get to just feel love. Love has behaviors that are proof of love – behaviors like patience and kindness and so forth, as outlined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Works without love are futile as outlined in the verses before that (1 Corin. 13:1-3)
And there are our bumpers, keeping us out of the ditches. Have faith and show it by works. Have love and show it by behavior. We see this time and again. If only we bowl the game of life with the bumpers on, we’d end up with a much better result in the game of life.
To be clear, there are ditches that others can through into – ditches injury or poverty, pain or instability. That’s a subject for another blog, though.
James 2:26 “For as the body without the spirt is dead, so faith without works is dead also”,
For now, I’m talking about the things we can control.
So, let’s strive to play the game of life with the bumpers provided by God’s word and, thereby, avoid self-driven gutter balls.
I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments or any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org