Life is not a board game

Warning: possibly disturbing and or convicting.

Life is not a board game. You don’t spin the wheel and move from square to square. You don’t draw cards to see your fate. Life is not a game.

Life is not a TV show either. In spite of that we seem to spend most of our time trying to prove that we’re not guilty. We know we are, deep down. The Christian at least must admit that much. Yet we still strive to prove that we are worthy of our salvation. It’s very American—older American anyway—to want to seem like we’re earning our keep.

But the only thing we can truly earn is death. That’s a grade school Sunday School lesson isn’t it? We’re all sinners and deserve death? It ought to be anyway.

And yet we seem to want to find the get out of jail free card. We want to find a way to extend our lives once more. We’re trying to push further and further past that three score and ten that God talks about in the Bible. We want Sci Fi regeneration treatments like scenes from Dr. Who where light shoots out of our face and suddenly we’re in a brand new body with no physical ailments at all. We want a Heinlein-esque utopia where any new body part or even a new body if we want can be grown in a vat for our usage at a later date. Heart disease? No problem—got a clone of your own right here in the tank. You TOO can BE Lazarus Long.

And we don’t care that its murder, which is what happens when you snuff out a human life. That’s called murder. Humans want to live. And why wouldn’t they? If this life is all there is, why not do all that you can to make sure it lasts as long as possible. Yeah, lets grind up a few million human embryos along the way, what of it? They’re not really alive until the second trimester anyway right? All along the way humanity is making a statement, that they don’t care what happens as long as they get to live. All the rationale of abortion boils down to convenience for the mother who chooses one or the father who forces her to get one. All the rationale for artificial insemination and selective reduction of implanted fetuses is about convenience and the fact that if we work hard enough, maybe we can get around the idea that God is the one who grants the blessing of children. God blesses as he chooses and yet we cannot accept that as sinners. Unbelievers have to have a work around for it. Because if I have a child, at least part of me is living on after I die. Even those who reject God cannot accept the idea of complete annihilation.

If we walk down this path—or sprint, as it appears that we’re doing—we prove that the only life that’s really worth saving is our own. The only glory that matters is that of the folks that are doing this research. Looky, my name is on that paper! So we are left with millions of frozen embryos that will never be used and millions more used up besides. All because we attempt to deny God his due, because we desire the throne the same as the god of this age, the father of lies, the prince of this world. Should we be surprised then that humanity is moving in this way?

I don’t think so. I’ve read many books and heard many sermons that argue that man isn’t as bad as he could be so perhaps ‘totally depraved’ isn’t a good thing to call our sin but I’ll tell you this: most of the time we are as bad as we can get away with.

The Word of God is not bound…are you?