Hell Just Lost Another One
I don’t know if kids still play it today, but back when I was in grade school, we’d play a game called “Red Rover.” There were two teams, facing each other a good distance apart, and the members of each team would hold hands, side by side, creating a line. One team would pick someone from the other team and shout to them, “Red Rover, Red Rover, let “so-n-so” come over. That person would run over and try to break through the arms of two players. If they failed, they’d have to join that team, but if they succeeded, they got to take one of those players back to their team. Whichever team had the most players at the end was the winner.
I heard a song on the radio and the bridge made me think of that Red Rover game. The song is “I Thank God,” by Maverick City Music and the bridge sings repeatedly, “Hell lost another one, I am free!” I pictured two teams… believers, those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and unbelievers, those who’ve not yet heard the good news or those who’ve rejected it. Both teams are linked up and they’re trying to win the game by growing their team. What came to my mind was this…when believers are linked up with other believers, their bond is secure, it holds tight through the toughest storms. Woven in with their mere ability is the mighty strength of God. Ecclesiastes 4:12 “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” The third cord is Jesus Christ…two players on the team, with hands locked, both like-minded with faith that God is with them in the fight. When someone from the unbeliever’s team runs over, it’s going to be incredibly hard to break through that bond.
On the other side, the unbelievers are linked together, and they may look like a tough team, but there’s no strength there because when you’re not following Jesus, you’re only out for yourself. So, they may be holding hands, but when the wave hits, they will break free to save themselves. There’s no brotherhood, nothing that provides strength when one link is weak. Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times, but a brother is born for adversity.” As believers, we are adopted into the Kingdom family, making us all brothers and sisters…children of God. We need to surround ourselves with other brothers and sisters who are born for adversity, to strengthen us and lift us up when we are weak. We need to be linked up, calling over to the other team, sharing the good news with them. When they fail to break through our bond, then we’ve won them to our team, and that’s what the game is all about!!