Earl was playing in a field near his home one day when he found something interesting. It was a heavy metal canister that looked like it would be a lot of fun to play with, so he tugged and rolled it home to his yard.
There, for the next four years, Earl enjoyed his new toy. When he played "Spacemen" it was his rocket ship. When "Cowboys and Indians" was the game, he rode the cannister as his horse. It got dragged here and there and was used in many different ways as he and his friends played together.
Then one day Earl's mother got a surprise. She was reading the local newspaper, and a picture caught her eye. The object in the picture looked a lot like the cannister Earl had in the back yard and often played with, so she quickly read what the article had to say about it.
The more she read the more worried she got. She laid down the paper and went to look out the window at Earl's toy. The newspaper story described a live U.S. Army bomb that had recently been found not far away and told how the army had been called in to dispose of the bomb safely.
Earl's toy wasn't another bomb, was it? No; it couldn't be. After all, he had played with it for several years, and nothing had happened. Just the same, the longer she looked at that toy, the more worried she got until finally, just to be on the safe side, she called the police.
The police came promptly to investigate, and after checking with the army they decided that what Earl had been playing with for the last four years was indeed another live bomb! Working very, very carefully they removed the bomb to a safe place for disposal.
Earl had been playing with something deadly for four years without knowing it. How about you? I know you aren't sitting on a live bomb, but are you doing something just as foolish? Are you playing around with the serious matter of your soul's salvation?
The Bible warns us that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)) and that "the wages of sin is death." (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). Have you taken that warning seriously? God's word is serious, and His warnings are plain and clear.
God does more in His Word than tell us of sin and its punishment. He also tells us lovingly of the way we can get rid of our sins and enjoy happiness instead of judgment. He tells us in Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23) that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) tells us that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Don't play around with something as serious as your soul's salvation. Accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior today.