You Wanna Make a Bet?

By Jerry D. Ousley

            Years ago, we went on a family vacation to Niagara Falls.  Our two kids were grown and married but no grandchildren as of yet.  We didn’t have a lot of money but we knew that there was a casino on the Canadian side of the falls where we were vacationing and we had set aside the huge sum of twenty-five dollars apiece to try our luck.

            Up until that time I had never been in a casino.  When we went in, all the lights and sounds captivated the mind.  We got our tokens and went to work.  Ten minutes later, I found my wife, dutifully informed her that my twenty-five-dollar wad was gone and I was going back to the motel. 

I never was a good gambler.  Even at home when we’d play poker for fun, I’d be winning nearly every hand.  My wife would suggest, “Let’s get out the pennies we are saving and play with them.”  Immediately when money was involved, I’d start losing.  If I were a professional gambler, I’d be living on the streets holding up a sign that read, “Professional gambler … will gamble for food!” 

Before I go further, I want to make it clear that there are no scriptures found that says gambling is a sin.  There is no command, “Thou shalt not gamble.”  However, gambling can be extremely habit forming and cause people to lose their entire paycheck causing pain and frustration for all in the household.  In that respect it can be a sin to that individual.  It can be an addiction just like alcohol, tobacco, or any drug.  So even though there is no “thou shalt not …” we probably should realize our limitations and tell ourselves, “Me shall not” if we are prone to addiction.

In the Bible there was a gamble that took place that is very significant to believers in Christ.  We read in John 19:23-24, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic.  Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.  They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: ‘They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.’  Therefore the soldiers did these things.”  The practice when one was crucified (and they were crucified naked) was to take their clothing and rip it up as rags among the soldiers doing the dirty work.  However, Jesus’ robe was very special in that there was no seam in it, nor a place where it had been sewn together, but it was woven as one piece from top to bottom.  It was considered to be an exquisite garment and so rather than tear it up the men agreed to cast lots (sort of like drawing straws or throwing dice to see who got the highest number) to see who would get the robe.

Many legends have developed over the years concerning the robe of Jesus.  They even made a movie about it. The truth of the matter is that it was just an article of clothing.  It wasn’t holy, even though the One Who wore it was.  I suspect that in reality, over the years it went the way of most clothing; it eventually wore out, rotted and was thrown away.  The significance in it was in the gamble.

All of life is a gamble if you take time to stop and think about it.  Without thinking, we bet every day that we will be able to fulfill the plans we have made.  We make decisions based on that gamble.  Sometimes we win and sometimes we don’t. 

The greatest gamble of them all has to do with our eternal soul.  Will we choose to believe in the sacrifice Jesus made when He was crucified, to be the “Lamb that takes away the sin of the world” as John the Baptist proclaimed?  Or will we choose to doubt, even make fun of the whole matter and live life like this is all we’ve got?  Either way, it is still a gamble.  Frankly, I like the safer gamble of believing.  If it would turn out to be false (and I speak tongue in cheek because I know it isn’t false), the only thing I have lost is to live a good, moral life.  But if I choose to disbelieve and I lose the gamble, well, the stakes are much, much higher.

There is another robe involved at the foot of the cross.  While the soldiers gamble behind it, and the blood of Jesus spills to the ground, a brilliantly white robe lies there, seemingly unnoticed.  Even when His blood hits it, instead of being stained, it actually becomes whiter.  It’s called “The Robe of Righteousness.” (see Isaiah 61:10).  It is there for the taking.  But there is a gamble.  We only need to pick it up and put it on.  Because it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ when we discard our own filthy rags of our self-righteousness (see Isaiah 64:6), trading them for this wonderfully white and pure robe of Jesus’ righteousness we are made justified in Him.  He becomes our righteousness. 

It is a gamble because the world disapproves.  The world wants us to stay in our filthy, dirty garments.  The world wants to ignore the need for such a fine article of clothing as this robe of righteousness.  But if we want to go to Heaven we can only go through Jesus.  If we go through Jesus, we must put on this wedding garment (see Matthew 22:11-12).

There is one more thing we must do.  We must climb up on the cross with Jesus.  We have to put off the old man (our righteousness, or should I say, unrighteousness) and put on the new man (Jesus’ robe of righteousness.  Also see Romans 6:6).  We must be crucified with Him. 

“But wait a minute,” I hear someone say.  “I thought there was nothing we could do to earn salvation?”  And of course, that is correct.  We can make no sacrifice good enough for it.  Only the sacrifice of Christ can cover our sin.  But just as with any free gift – and salvation is a free gift (see Romans 6:23) – we must receive it.  In order to receive it we must let our old man – our old nature – be crucified with Jesus.  When we do, then we can put on that exquisite garment of salvation and be free from the slavery, the blame, the guilt and the condemnation of sin.  We are justified, not by our acceptance, but by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

So, what’s the verdict?  What’s your decision?  What is your gamble?  What are you placing your cards on?  You wanna make a bet?

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.