Are You Cleaning Up?

The Wednesday night poker tournament is still on in our city, even though some local colleges canceled evening classes.  It was the result of a day of rough weather, which had a couple of tornado warnings.  A strong cold front brought us high winds and hard rain.

The storm could bring flooding and erode land.  But there's one thing rain cannot wash away -- the stains caused by sins in our lives.

In a post earlier this week, we noted some of the definitions of "sin" in the Bible.  If you lie to other players at the table about your hand, that's a sin under the Ten Commandments.  If you even become fixated on your opponent's big chip stack, that can be sin as well....

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.  You shall not set your desire on your neighbors house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. - Deuteronomy 5:21

There actually was a time in human history when God used rain against sin -- not really washing it away, but drowning it:

I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it.  Everything on earth will perish. - Genesis 6:17

God did this because our planet had become violent and corrupt (verses 12-13).  Yet Earth still has life and breath, because God made a big exception.  He spared Noah, his family and animals taken aboard an ark (verses 18-21).

Trouble is, our planet probably has more violence and corruption today -- if only because Earth has more than seven billion people.  So sin remains in our lives.  How can we get rid of it these days?  By something better than rainwater....

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. - I John 1:7 (KJV)

The atheist we met at the final table last week probably doesn't think she needs that blood, and might not even think she needs to be cleansed of anything.  But if the Bible is right, we'll all come before Jesus Christ for judgment someday.  Will you accept His blood sacrifice in your behalf now, by repenting of your sins and seeking forgiveness from God?  Will you "come clean" with God -- and by God?

The Hands of God

We were in a Bible discussion recently, when the minister/moderator caught our attention with these words: "God wants a full house."

What made him say that? What Jesus said shortly before His crucifixion....

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. -- John 14:1-3

The King James Version has the classic phrase, "In my Father's house are many mansions." But when was the last time you saw a mansion inside a house? It's usually the reverse in our society -- so "rooms in a house" seems more sensible to us.

We don't know the size of this house. But math experts have computed Noah's ark was the size of a modern cargo ship. It was built with plenty of room for people to escape the flood. Sadly, only Noah and his immediate family did (Genesis 7:13) -- and somehow, all kinds of animals turned out to be smarter than the majority of humanity.

Our point is that God probably has plenty of room in His house for all believers. And yes, He has room for you. God's version of a "full house" is guaranteed to be a winner for all eternity. Have you made your reservation yet -- by repenting of your sin, and turning your life to God?

A "boat" and pairs

At our online table Monday, a player whose ID begins with "wood" won a pot with a full house.

"The ol' wooden boat," we wrote to congratulate.

A few hands later, that player did it again.

"Fleet of wooden boats!" we wrote.

"All that and Noah!" the winner replied. Now that's the way to turn the discussion Biblical.

"Well, he really only needed one," we noted.

"Right on!" came the reply.

"And he had much more than two pair."

If you're puzzled by this post right now, we invite you to review Genesis 6-9. Noah built a boat to save the human race, because he was obedient to God. Then pairs of unclean animals and sevens of male and female clean animals entered the ark, and God preserved them as well.

We're not sure how the full house in poker gained the nickname "boat." But one of the most full "boats" which ever sailed made it possible for us to write this -- and for you to read it. Noah's obedience mattered that much. Are you obedient to God that much?