STE:Is your life a sucker bet?  by Sheldon F. Crook

   Are you making a sucker bet with your life? If I asked you that on
the street you probably would be incensed and punch me in the mouth.
But how would you answer the question?

   Let me put it another way by making you a hypothetical wager. I will
give you a million dollars - it's yours to keep no matter what - I
can't take it away from you. It's yours to do with as you see fit. The
only string attached is this; you must make me a wager.

   The wager is on the toss of a coin and we will assume that the toss
will be truly honest. In other words, a true fifty/fifty chance of
winning or losing. If you win, you get to keep your million dollars but
if you lose, you must report to prison when your money is gone and
serve fifty years at hard labor with torture for sixteen hours of the
day. It will be arranged that you will be tortured just short of
killing you so that you cannot escape the punishment by dying. Would
you take the bet?

   Let's look at what the possible outcome of the bet would be. If you
win the toss, you get to keep what you already have but if you lose,
you really lose big! You say you don't like the odds on that bet? But
isn't that exactly what you are doing with your life, if you are not
saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, except the results are much more
tragic than merely prison!

   The bet that the nonbeliever is making in real life is that the
Bible is either right or it's wrong. One or the other, there is no half
way point on this matter. If any part of the Bible can't be trusted,
then how can you say any of it can be. The million dollars part of the
bet is your life. You have been given your life free of charge, no
questions asked and you can spend it in any way you choose. If you are
betting that the Bible is wrong and you win that bet then when you die
that's it, there is nothing after that. You have won what was already
yours, your life-big deal. But if you lose the bet and the Bible turns
out to be right after all, then you have lost in the worst way
possible. Not only have you missed out on heaven, eternity in paradise,
you have won eternity in hell with the torment that goes with it. The
Bible says it is a place of fire, torment, wailing and gnashing of
teeth and it goes on forever with no hope of ending. This is your prize
if you lose your bet.

   Let's look for a moment at the same bet from the born-again
Christian's point of reference. The odds and the wager are exactly the
same. If the Bible is wrong, then you have won what you already have,
your life. If the Bible is right though, you have won the biggest prize
possible - eternity in Heaven with God the Father! Even if you lose the
bet you win. Ask any born-again Christian how his or her life compares
with what it was before they accepted Jesus and they will all tell you
that there is no comparison! Life with Jesus as your saviour is a
million million times better that without Him. Maybe not in any
material way but in ways that can't be measured by worldly standards.
What value can you put on a truly peaceful heart and spirit? How can
you price a friend that is always with you and will never leave or
abandon you, no matter what the circumstances? Jesus has told us
through His Word, the Bible, that all things are possible through Him.
So the believer has a direct line to the Creator of the universe; can
you beat that for friends in high places?

   My point is this: a believer in Jesus Christ wins the bet no matter
what! If the Bible is wrong and we all believe in a fairy tale, our
lives are so much better than before that it is worth it, even if we
are wrong. But if we are right, then we have won Heaven for eternity.

   The best outcome that the nonbeliever can expect, on the other hand,
is to win what he already has and nothing more. So you can't say he or
she wins either way; the best outcome is a draw.

   What it all boils down to is this: is the Bible right or wrong?
Every time the Bible has been put to the test it has proven itself
accurate. Archaeology has never disproven anything in scripture, just
the opposite. Go down to B. Dalton and find me another book that was
written over a period of several hundred years by several authors and
is still on sale nearly two thousand years later. The prophecies in the
Old Testament regarding Jesus' life (over 300) alone should convince
anyone of its accuracy.

   So the overwhelming evidence available is that the Bible is accurate
and that Jesus was really who He said He was. If you are interested in
reading further, read some of Josh McDowell's work in this area. If the
Bible is correct, as the evidence leads us to believe, then any bet you
make with your life as a nonbeliever is a true "sucker bet". If you are
a true gambler, then you will always go with the odds and in this case,
the odds are all with the Bible and Jesus Christ!

   This has been a short and rather clinical look at the issue of
believing in Jesus and trying to show the situation rather
dispassionately but you will find that once you accept Jesus, there is
so much more involved that you can't believe what is happening! The
inner peace and joy you will discover will cause you to wonder why on
earth you wasted all that time floundering in the world when the answer
was in front of you all along.

   If you are a nonbeliever and have read this far and are still not
convinced, I encourage you to find a good, active church and check it
out for yourself before you lose the bet. If you have chosen to accept
Jesus as your Saviour, then praise the Lord and welcome to the greatest
adventure you will ever know! When we meet in Heaven some day find me
and we will sing praises together. God bless you.
