Dodging Bullets

One of my favorite movies of all time has got to be The Matrix. Why do I like it so much? The cutting edge video techniques were amazing for their time, the music was edgy and the characters unique and stylish. But the reason I like the movie so much are the many moments that remind me of my Christian faith. The movie is filled with allusions.

For example, during Neo's training he undergoes an exercise with his mentor, Morpheus, in which this brief conversation takes place.

Neo: "What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?"

Morpheus: "No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that, when you're ready, you won't have to."

That doesn't sound very "Christian" when we first hear it but perhaps we should first ask ourselves, "What are the bullets we might need to dodge?

The first "bullet" that pops into my head that might require dodging is death. Any time we cheat death it's known as "dodging a bullet."

The death rate for humans is reportedly 100% We all die. There's no escaping it.

"It is appointed for man once to die." - Hebrews 2:27

Dodging bullets is something we usually associate with luck. GOOD luck. Tonight I saw a news story about the tornado that killed 11 people in Texas. Searchers found two dogs buried in the rubble several days later. Those dogs "dodged a bullet." Somehow they cheated death and lived to bark another day.

How do we humans dodge bullets? It is by the grace of God.

Have you dodged a bullet recently?

I dodged a bullet ten years ago by placing my faith in Christ. A future bullet. By trusting in Jesus I dodged the bullet of death. True, I WILL die one day, but I get to dodge that bullet through my faith in Jesus. I get to live again. Why? Because Jesus took that bullet for me. He died for MY sins.

The promise of God . . .

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” - John 3:16-21

That line from The Matrix . . . modified for the believer in Christ.

You and me: "What are you trying to tell me? That I can cheat death?"

Jesus: "No, my child. I'm trying to tell you that, when you're ready, you won't have to."

Praise God for His amazing promises!!

"What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?"