Recently I received an advertisement via email which boasted that the advertisers had made a two-hour movie of the entire Bible. Out of curiosity I went to the web site and found that it contained a great deal of children’s Bible lesson materials for free. They also offered a game for children which could be downloaded for free. The game board consisted of a spiral of squares and the players moved from square to square by a roll of the dice. Many of the squares contained the words, 'Jesus Loves Children,' and as one got closer to the winner’s square in the center, the words changed to 'Jesus Loves Me.' Spread throughout the game board were squares with 'I' phrases that either advanced the player or sent him back a few squares. Some described good things, 'I cleaned my room; move ahead 2 spaces;' and others described 'naughty' things such as, 'I was rude to mummy, go back two spaces.'
But, I was quite taken back by one square located about two thirds through the game: 'I like Brussels sprouts, move ahead 6 spaces.' I enlarged the screen to be certain I had read it right; and, yes, I had.
My first thought was, 'Any kid who says they like Brussels sprouts should be sent back 2 spaces for lying.' But then I had to laugh at such a ridiculousness of it all. Among all the supposedly virtuous things a child could do to advance to 'Jesus Loves Me' and being a 'Winner,' there was 'I like Brussels sprouts.' I also became a bit angry at the false doctrine being taught: One gets to 'Jesus Loves Me' by doing good things and the good things we must do are distasteful like Brussels sprouts. I recognized some of my childhood thoughts in that.
Yet, I could not get over how ridiculous it was to put 'liking Brussels Sprouts' in with all those other things. Then it hit me: Thinking you can gain God’s favor by eating Brussels sprouts is no more ridiculous than any of the other hundreds of things man has devised as a route to God’s favor. Most of what passes for Christianity is just so much eating Brussels sprouts!
It is sad that so many are trying to get to heaven by some form of the board game available on that web site. 'I had perfect church attendance for the fall quarter, advance 2 spaces.' 'I memorized a Bible verse today, advance one space.' 'I told a lie, go back three spaces.' 'A tee-totaler, advance 10 spaces.' 'I fell off the wagon, miss a turn.'
I can only imagine poor David: 'I committed adultery and murder, go back to square one. Go back to the beginning! Start all over! In fact, get off the board altogether.' And that is exactly what David did; He got off the board of human works and said 'Have mercy on me, O God.' (Psalm 51.1) And the blessed truth is that in the true gospel 'game board' the square that says, 'Have Mercy on me, O God,' also has 'Jesus Loves Me.' In the gospel, square one is the last square. The gospel is made up of only the mercy of God and the love of the Lord Jesus. If you have found that square, you are at the beginning and the end of the game.
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