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The Dart Game
A young lady named Sally relates an experience
she had in a class given by her teacher, Dr. Smith. Dr. Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons, and on
this particular day, Sally walked in the classroom and
saw a big target on the wall and on a nearby table
were many darts.
Dr. Smith told the students to draw a picture
of someone that they disliked or someone who had made
them angry, and he would allow them to throw darts at
the person's picture. Sally's girlfriend drew a
picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend.
Another friend drew a picture of his little
brother. Sally
drew a picture of a former friend, putting a great
deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples
on the face. Sally was pleased at the overall effect she had achieved.
The class lined up and began throwing darts,
with much laughter and fun.
Some of the students threw their darts with
such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled with
disappointment when Dr. Smith, because of time limits,
asked the students to return to their seats.
As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was
because she didn't have a chance to throw any darts at
her target, Dr. Smith began removing the target from
the wall. Underneath the target was a picture of
Jesus! A
hush fell over the room as each student viewed the
mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks
covered His face and His eyes were pierced.
Dr. Smith quoted only these words (the words of
Jesus), "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the
least of these My brethren, you did it to Me"
(Matthew 25:40). No other words were necessary.
The tear-filled eyes of each student focused
only on the picture of Christ.
As you visualize that marred picture of
Christ, consider the following…
With the release of Mel Gibson’s movie, The
Passion of the Christ, there is a
question that has been debated:
"WHO ACTUALLY KILLED JESUS?"
History, both biblical and non-biblical, declares that
some JEWS were involved (see Matthew 27:1ff).
ROMANS, like Pontius Pilate, were also
involved (see Mark 15:15). However, the Bible teaches
that actually every
HUMAN BEING (is) responsible for the death
of Christ!
How? Because
it was for OUR sins that Jesus was crucified!
"He Himself bore our
sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died
to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose
stripes (wounds) you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).
ALL of us have "thrown the
darts" that have wounded and killed the Son
of God... for "ALL have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
THE GOOD NEWS … is that Jesus died on
the cross so that each of us can be forgiven
of our sins. Those
who place their trust in Him (Hebrews 11:6), repent of sin
(2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess Jesus (Romans
10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) in the name of Jesus (Acts
2:38), are forgiven of past sins.
Then as we walk in the light of God’s Word,
the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from sin (1
John 1:7).
My fellow dart-thrower, will YOU not accept Christ on His terms?
God bless
you!
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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