BBD 11.15.04 Changing The Rules
Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>
The Burning Bush Devotional
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11.15.04
Changing The Rules
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. - Hebrews 13:8 NASB.
What if you were to play a game, any game and won according to the rules that had been pronounced at the beginning of the game - nothing wrong with that and in fact thats the way things ought to be. But what if you were then told that you had actually lost because the rules had been changed? You would of course be upset, as would anyone believing that such a thing was not right.
Keith Schott is a golfer who actually had the rules changed on him after winning the game. At least that is what Schott has claimed in a lawsuit filed against the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a Tempe, Arizona real estate firm, and two charity promoters. Schott made a hole-in-one that was apparently a winning shot according to the rules and the hole-in-one was witnessed by several people. However, the sponsors/promoters of the event refused to give Schott the one million dollar prize that had been advertised. The rules were changed requiring that the hole-in-one had to be video taped to qualify for the prize money. Schotts attorney said, Remarkably, the defendants changed the rules on the spot.
What if the rules of the spiritual were changed on us at the end of our lives? What a horrible thing to contemplate. If we could not count on the rules as we know them as revealed in the Bible we would have no assurance of salvation. In fact, we would have nothing of any value at all. The Bible, if it could not be counted on to remain true would quickly become the worlds worst selling book instead of the best selling.
What assurance do we have that the Bible is true and that the rules will not be changed? We have the word of God Himself. God does not change and therefore His Word does not change. God is the same today as He was yesterday and He will be the same tomorrow as He is today. Even Balaam knew this and spoke the truth when he said, God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good (Numbers 23:19 NASB)? Jesus says, But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail (Luke 16:17 NASB).
There are so many things that are constantly changing in the fast-paced world in which we live. Our relationships with other people are bound to change over time. The rate of change of technology is exponential. We know the political situation in each individual country will change from time to time. Relationships between countries change. There is really very little that we can count on not to change and say that those things will never change. The only truly unchangeable thing in our lives is God and His Word. The closer we come to God, the more of His Word we have in our lives, then the more stable and meaningful our lives will become.
Always remember that God will never change the rules on you in the middle or even at the end of the game. God will never change and His Word will never change.
Copyright 2004. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
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