Hot Potato

Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you. ~ Psalm 9:10 (NLT)

When I was a kid, we used to play a game at recess called “Hot Potato.” Maybe you’ve heard of it? If not, here’s what it’s all about. You have an object, like a bean bag, a tennis ball, or something smallish that you can toss from one person to the next. The idea is that the object was hot (like a potato which had just come out of the oven) and you couldn’t grab it. So, you’d form a circle of your friends and hit the object back and forth while acting like it was ridiculously hot. If you missed it when it was your turn to hit it, or you didn’t hit it far enough to make it to someone else, you were out. The circle then shrank to those who remained. The last one standing would be declared the winner of Hot Potato and, I’m sure, go on to receive major awards, praises, trophies, and untold riches.

Of course, there was only one winner, and a bunch of losers. For the most part, we just shook off the loss and jumped back in when a new game was started. Then there were others who pouted or even shed tears over the fact that they lost and were kicked from the game. They usually didn’t rejoin the game when it restarted, even if we tried to get them back into it.

There are many people in the world that believe God is into the game of Hot Potato. Except, in their version, He isn’t playing with a bean bag or ball, He is playing with people. This version of the game calls for God to only save those who don’t have a ton of sin because they aren’t hot. But He drops those who have too much sin because they are radioactive. In other words, they believe that God only accepts those who are good, but not those who are bad.

Of course, this is completely false. God isn’t a God who only picks certain people to love and save. Instead, He is a God who loves unconditionally and never abandons anyone who seeks Him. In fact, our verse today from King David states, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.”

Today, and every day, don’t buy the lie of Satan that God will reject you for your sin. To the contrary! God will free you from the penalty of it! Seek God. Run to Him. To Him, you aren’t radioactive. You are loved. He will never abandon you.