Did your parents or life leaders ever tell you “cheaters never win?” Did it ever confuse you that adults would say that, and yet you would see cheaters “winning” all the time. You would see classmates cheat on tests and not get caught. You’d see kids on the playground cheat during kickball and nothing would happen. You’d see spouses cheat on their significant others and carry on. You’d see politicians cheat and lie their way into office and no one seemed to care. How could these so called wise adults be so wrong? Clearly, cheaters do win…. a lot! So were our parents right? Yes! Cheaters may win the battle, but they will never win the war! In the end, you will not last on top for long as a cheater. From a Christian worldview, you can live of the world and seem like you’re winning until the final buzzer and you’ll realize that all of your worldly winnings mean nothing in the eyes of God. In Revelation 13 we see a time where it seems like the main cheater and deceiver of all time is victorious forever. “Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.” (Revelation 13:1, 8-10 NLT). We see that the beast from the enemy is in control of many people in the world. Fortunately, there are still some left that are living for God. We are told that those destined for prison will go to prison and those destined to die will die. This is a great reminder that cheaters will be found out and disqualified. They may get away with it once, twice, or maybe even for years. However, there is no doubt that this is temporary and cheaters are only cheating themselves from truly winning. Satan loves to deceive us. Here we see him using everything he can think of to win us over. Then, he resorts to scare tactics and marking his followers. Pay close attention to how Satan lures you and how Christ loves you. Trust in the Lord and endure! Remain faithful and your reward is eternity with Jesus!
Questions 1.) Do you have an example of a time that you cheated to get what you wanted or were cheated by someone else? 2.) In times of intense persecution, what can we do as Christians to hold steady?
Zack Funk 