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Price To Pay NFL fans have been watching the playoffs for a number of weeks now. In the middle of summer, players come to camp to get ready to compete. They lift weights, run, and do a lot of sweating in hopes of making it to the playoffs and Super Bowl. It is not uncommon to see grown men cry when they lose in the playoffs—just as it is not uncommon to see players cry when they win the "big game." How much do they really want to win? I don’t know about some players, but I do know about a player by the name of Ronnie Lott. He played for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980’s and early 90’s. In 1985 his team was playing the Dallas Cowboys. In making a tackle, he severely damaged his left pinky finger. He played the rest of the game with his fingers taped and in great pain. After the season, he was faced with a choice—have the finger operated on and miss the next season or have part of the finger cut off. Ronnie Lott chose to have part of his finger cut off. You heard me right. He chose to have part of this finger cut off so as to be able to play the next season. Winning was that important to Ronnie Lott. Now consider what Jesus said in Mark 9. "43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched... 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched… 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire." What would you sacrifice in order to go to heaven? We may ask the question in another way: "What is worth going to hell for?"People often make excuses for not obeying God. They think the price of living a godly life is too high; the pain of leaving behind sin is too costly. But a man named Ronnie Lott was willing to sacrifice a part of his body in order to play a game. One advantage Lott had was the pain he was already in. His finger hurt him until the time it was amputated. Perhaps we would be more willing to make the sacrifice needed to go to heaven if we were already in pain. — Dennis Tucker |