LONDON BRIDGE

By Molly Noble Bull

Children are told not to play with matches. Yet many people today are playing with fire—hellfire. Sin has consequences, and according to the Bible, hell is a real place whether people chose to believe it or not. 

At one time young children played another kind of game, and it didn’t require matches. The game was called “London Bridge is Falling Down.” Maybe you’ve heard of it.

Two children joined hands to form a bridge. Let’s call them Bobby and Sally. The other children walked one-by-one under the bridge until the London Bridge song ended. Then the child caught under the bridge was captured, meaning he or she must answer a question.

Did the captured child want to be a golden apple or a golden pear? If a golden apple, line up behind Bobby. If the child chose to be a golden pear, line behind Sally. When all the children were captured and on one side or the other, a tug-o-war began.

Life is much like that childhood game. We must make choices. However, these choices are not often between good and just-as-good. They are between good and evil.

Rather than a choice between a wonderful this or a wonderful that, the choice is between heaven or hell. Would you like to go to heaven when you die where everything is perfect and the streets are paved with gold? Or would you like to sin now and spend eternity in hell where everyone burns in the lake of fire forever?

If you chose the sin now and burn in hell later plan, go stand behind Satan. But if you would like to spend eternity in heaven with the Lord and walk down golden streets, repent of all your sins and really mean it. Then ask the Lord to come into your heart and life, and line up behind Jesus.

It's as simple as that.
Sin has consequences, but God’s Word is true.

        

What Do Sin and Weight Gain Have in Common?

by Teresa Slack

So I earned this amazing trip to Charleston, SC through my Scentsy business. I’m super excited and totally looking forward to the trip. Problem is it’s next month, and I can’t fit into my cute summer clothes from last year. I have this adorable little black dress that will be perfect for our last night extravaganza. Right now, it fits me like a feed sack. (In case you’re unfamiliar with feed sacks, suffice it to say, they are not figure flattering.)

I’ve begun a rigorous exercise and weight loss program. Well, not too rigorous, but I’m determined to get into that dress.

Anyway, on the way to church this morning my husband commented about someone we knew who had fallen away from the church. My husband wondered how it could happen “all of the sudden”.

I reminded him it’s never all of a sudden. Sin is sneaky. It creeps up on us like a thief in the night. Much like weight gain. I didn’t intend to eat too much all winter. I didn’t mean for my slacks to no longer zip all the way up my stomach. It was a gradual process exacerbated by foregoing my workout routine too many times and eating that extra cookie. By drinking Pepsi when I should’ve chosen water. By going through the drive-through instead of coming home and cooking something without all the processed fat.

I ignored the signs and let the situation get out of hand. Now I’m paying the price. Many of us don’t see when we’re falling away from God. We think everything’s fine even though we don’t pray as much as we used to or spend as much time in His Word or feel that little prick of conviction when a coworker tells a dirty joke and we don't walk away.

The mirror won’t tell us our spiritual health is in danger. At least not the one hanging in the bathroom. Our spiritual mirror is God’s word. Do you need to take a good hard look in that mirror to determine if there’s something amiss with your spiritual health?

All of us should do this on a regular basis. Just like with our physical health, we need to stay on track, get our "checkups", pay attention to the signs, and not be blindsided “all of the sudden” after sin has gained a stronghold in our lives.