Now the end of all things is near; therefore, be serious and disciplined for prayer. Above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God.  1 Peter 4:7-10 HCSB

In the game of rock, paper, scissors one of at least two players forms a particular shape with their hand. A flat hand indicates paper, a fisted hand indicates rock, and a hand with two fingers outstretched indicates scissors. The winner is determined by which player throws out a shape that beats the shape the other player has thrown. For example, rock wins over scissors because a rock will crush or dull scissors. Scissors wins over paper because scissors can cut paper. Paper wins over rock because paper covers rock.

In the world we as Christians tend to face a daily game that is very similar to this Chinese game of rock, paper, scissors. Our Scripture passage warns us that the end of all things is near. I want you to carefully consider this verse. The end of all things is near. If you knew that the world would end in the next two months, would you do anything differently? Would your priorities change?

Well, the next verse tells us that we must maintain an intense love for one another. The interesting thing about love is that you can’t get around it. We are commanded to love. The two greatest commands are that we love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul and all our might. The second is that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. These are found in Matthew 22:37-39. God has an intense love for us. He showed this by sending his one and only Son to die that we might have eternal life, God loved us that much (John 3:16). In our Scripture passage, Peter is telling us that in these end times we must have love in our hearts. He tells us this is necessary since love covers a multitude of sins. My friend we are told in Romans 3:23 that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you don’t have a multitude of sins because we all do. We all need that sin covered. Just as we need paper to cover the rock in the game, we need love to cover our sins.

What’s interesting is that when we try to use the scissors to cut out the things in our life that are bad, the devil tries to use a rock to crush our scissors. The devil does not want us to turn from our evil ways. The devil does not want us to love the Lord or anyone else. The devil wants us to be filled with hatred, bitterness, envy, strife, anger and unforgiveness. This is where the paper or our love comes in. We must use our love to combat the evil of the devil.

Life is often like a game of rock, paper, scissors in that we never know what hand is being dealt or what is being thrown at us. We never know if we are facing the rock, the paper or the scissors. It can vary from day to day. This is why we must be prepared.

But we do know that love conquers all. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 13 (the love chapter) how love looks and behaves. He explains that love is patient, kind, does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs in verses 4-6. In verses 6-8 he goes on to say that love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things and never ends. My friend this is a description of the love God has for us. His love covered our sins when He sent His Son to die for us.

In 1 John 4:7-8, we are told the one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. My friend, if you don’t love you’ve got a problem. We are commanded to love God and love others, even those who are unlovable.

Jesus had no sins to be covered, but no one could have loved more. I know I have a lot of sins to cover so I know I must love. I hope you understand how important this is before it’s too late.

Have a great weekend!