Tug of War

"They stumble because they disobey the message..." 1 Peter 2:8

When I was a little girl one of the games that I wasn’t wild about was Tug of War. The game was a test of strength between two teams, one rope and a center mark. Each team would tug on the rope trying to pull the other team across the center line. I always felt like the weak link in that game because rarely did my team win. There was yanking and pulling…rope burns and stumbling…tightening and releasing. Little did I know that was a foreshadowing of this game called life.

Our lives reveal a constant pull between good and evil on this earth. There are two teams that come to the game, both wanting to defeat the other…the flesh and the Spirit…the created and the Creator…our will and ‘Thou will.’ Sometimes we can feel like the rope being yanked into flesh decisions when our spirit gets weak. We tell little lies...we repeat a little gossip...we harbor a little bitterness...all compromises. Other times we feel strong and confident and seem to have a good grip on our temptations, but only for the moment. To be sure the teams are always there, and one will never concede to the other. But the truth I must tell myself when I’m being yanked and pulled into the direction of the flesh is that the other team has already won. Christ is the center mark and there is no taking back the cross! We will continue to be pulled into the direction of the world, but we have the strength in Christ to overcome the pull. By navigating through life allowing Christ to lead, our weakness will be the very thing that ushers in His strength.

If Christ is the center mark then the Bible is the rope to which we should cling. It gives us a firm grip on right and wrong when we keep it in our hands. No game of Tug of War has ever been won by compromising the hold and no faith will ever be grown when we compromise our beliefs.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Philippians 3:12