As we look one last time at chapter 21 of The Bridge from OneDayBow, we’ve already noted the reality that anyone can enter the Kingdom, but not all will choose to do so. We’ve seen the power of a bobble to keep some people from believing and following the King– actually, the power that some humans give to very fragile “things”. And now we’re going to focus on the man who built his life on the hope of ultimate bobble-success.  Granted, it seems that he was very committed, and intentional in his life choices to achieve… something. Yet, when the crowd ran after the free bobbles, he didn’t follow. Perhaps for the first time, his doubts were verbalized:

I’ve had all the bobbles I’d ever care to try.

I must admit, the fact is, sometimes I wonder why

I spent my life collecting what I’ll just give away,

For some uncertain outcome on that final count day.

Wow! Don’t you wish your neighbor, your co-worker, or your relatives would open up to you like that??? I do!

I have no doubt that the pretty but post-modern woman would have told him to put away his negative energy, and at the very least not verbalize it! The people who chased after the bobbles that day would have probably thought, “Good, all the more for me!” And I don’t know about the unnamed person with the uncertain destination. I hope they were still in the crowd and thought about where they were headed.

Now don’t allow the man’s frustrated confession lead you to think that he was ready to sign up for the Kingdom. Oh, no! But it did create an opening for Tim to share the Truth with the man, and all who were still there. And so he did.

Tim unashamedly told the man the bad news: the bobble game is a no-win proposition! Its foundation is deception and its destiny is eternal misery.  Nobody likes bad news, but that bad news could turn the tide for this man. For the sake of his future, Tim spoke up.

The man’s response? Hostility, resentment, and possibly violent intentions. What fueled it? My guess is pride. No one wants to believe they’ve been conned. No one wants to consider that they’ve wasted their life. But Tim didn’t let it end there.

I have to imagine Tim was quaking with fear when he answered the man with the Good News, followed by the bad news of what was ahead if he didn’t believe the Good News!

It’s been more than 10 years ago, but I still remember the day when my dear friend, Karen, told me that I was going to have to deal with the issue of sin in The Bridge from OneDayBow. As I recall, she said something like, “The root problem is not the bobbles. But the love of bobbles reveals the sin condition of people.” Frankly, I knew that, but I didn’t know exactly how to fit it into an allegory and hoped I could work around it. Wrong! (Did I mention that it took me over a decade to write the book?) Well, on pages 94-95, Tim makes it clear that the man (and everyone) has a problem that trumps the bobble-chasing pursuits that lead people astray. This is what Tim says:

The Truth is that we all fall short of what the King requires.

Each of us is far off course in actions and desires.

But while we were all wayward, and set on selfish gain,…

Stop. What Tim described is the propensity of every person to sin. This is the bad news of a world separated from a Holy God. The world is desperate for the Good News of God’s love and intervention into humanity, and Tim clearly offers it:

The King knew we were helpless to make things right again.

So He did what we could not. The King prepared the way

For us to come to Him, but there was a price to pay;

A price no one could pay except the Son of the King –

The One Who created and sustains everything!

May we never cease to be amazed that the One we sinned against is the One willing to pay the price for our sin!

So you might ask, “Then we’re all okay now, right? Since Jesus came as the Promised Messiah and paid the price for our sins? Whether we believe in Him or not, right?”  There are some who would add to the deception- pot and say that even if you don’t believe in Jesus you’re still saved by Jesus and from eternal separation from God in Hell. (I’m sure there are a lot that would be all over that deception-safety-net, thinking that now it really doesn’t matter what I do or don’t do…) But Tim clears that one up for us as well as he talks to this bobble-rich man:

You have been striving for some uncertain end.

No matter what you’ve done here, you never can defend

The reason you denied the King and refused to trust

Him to renew your Nooma. If you’d have hope, you must.

Tim makes it very clear, but if you personally have further questions you might want to open the Bible to the New Testament book of John, chapter 3. Start reading at the beginning, and by verses 16-21 you should be pretty clear on it.

So back to the man, who by now is genuinely moved by the Truth of a love and grace so much greater than he ever could have imagined. And what does he reveal to Tim?

Inside my heart I’m searching. I’ve wondered all these years

Why I feel lost and empty. Although I’ve taken pride

In being rich in bobbles, I’m really poor inside.

Bingo! Did you catch it? It is the bad news of not only frustrated hopes and dreams, but the admission that chasing after the things of the world did not satisfy him! This is the Good News about the bad news. There is hope for change, redirection, and a for-certain marvelous Destination! All because of what the King has done in sending His Son to make the way for sinners who turn to Him in genuine faith, receive His Spirit (Nooma), and enter His Kingdom.

That very day the man went to meet the Son. And many others believed and followed. My hope is that the unnamed person (page 92) was still there to hear, and they too made their Destination certain.