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Taken For A Ride
October 9, 2001
"I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will sing praise." Psalm 101:1 (NIV)
A carnival in the midwestern United States can be an exciting place. With all the cheese curds and bratwurst you can eat, on top of the buzzing and flashing of Ferris wheels and roller coasters, it's easy to get caught up in it all.
One negative aspect of a carnival may be the game you can never quite seem to win. It's not because you're not good enough, though. The game is, as they say, rigged.
On a recent trip to a local carnival, I was drawn in by the basketball toss. I had just watched a guy miss about ten shots in a row, and I thought I could do better. But after my first shot clanged awkwardly off the rim, I got suspicious.
Sure enough, when I looked at the rim from the side, I saw that it was shaped like an oval, which therefore made it impossible for the round basketball to go through it. My protest to the teenage girl running the game fell on deaf ears, and I grumbled about the whole incident for the rest of the night.
As human beings, we can take comfort in the fact that God doesn't change the rules or rig the game. The path to salvation through Jesus Christ remains the same for everyone. The game of eternal life is one God wants all of us, without exception, to win. As Peter wrote, "[God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
— Matt Donnelly, for the ChristianityToday.com staff
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