Ever
been called “Top Dog”, “Big Cheese”, “The Boss”, “Main Man”? How about “King of The Hill”?
In the 1950’s and 1960’s kids used to play the outdoor
game “King of The Hill” (also known as “King of The Mountain”, “King of The
Castle”, or “King of The Dirt Pile”).
It’s a made-up children’s game, the object of which is to stay on top of
the large pile of dirt (or any other designated area) for as long as you can
stand as the “King of The Hill”. Other players attempt to knock the current
king off the hill and take their place.
Hence you’re the new king. Then,
it starts all over again, where someone tries to dethrone the new king. The way the “king” can be removed from the
hill depends largely on the rules determined by the players before the
game. Ordinarily, pushing, shoving,
kicking, screaming, dragging, is the preferred method in succeeding the
king. The game goes on until someone
gets a bloody nose, a cut, and cries loud, or quits breathing, then, some large
person called an adult comes running over yelling “Game Over, Game Over”. Ah yes, those were the good ole’ days. It really was fun until that happens. And yes, you guessed it; this game is often
banned from school playgrounds and parks.
Today one would have to have a reality TV show, signed legal
disclosures, an advertising agency, a marketing budget, and movie star
contestants just to play this simple game.
Everyone wants a ‘foothold’ in the game of life.
You must have an edge, a major ‘foothold’ dug-in to the hill if you’re to remain king.
What
is a foothold anyway? It is a place dug
into a portion of the hill that allows you to get a good strong stance or
‘foothold’ to stand your ground—be the king!
Protect your territory. The devil
does the same thing in our lives. He
jostles for a foothold on your soul. Ephesians
4:27 tells us: “..do not give the devil a foothold.” It makes perfect sense not to let evil get an
advantage. What kind of footholds have
we allowed into our lives? Satan is
prowling around to get a foothold. He
establishes a foothold in our lives, marriage, family, friends, workplace, community,
and church—everywhere.
Think
about it! That’s exactly the way it worked
with “King of The Hill”. Someone is
always jockeying for the best position to knock you off your game. If you’ll remember, it wasn’t the kid right
in front of you that tried to knock you down, oh no, it was the sneaky guy
creeping up behind you catching you off guard.
And down you went. Never saw it
coming did you? That’s exactly how Satan
works.
Today’s
footholds are from front page news stories and nightly national news
broadcasts: Murder, Adultery, Greed, Malice, Theft, Sexual Immorality, Deceit,
Lewdness, Envy, Slander, Arrogance, Pride, and the list goes on. The world is a battleground and we are the
Lord’s foot soldiers jockeying for a foothold.
Jesus rebukes the folly of the Pharisees when he says: “What comes out
of a man is unclean. For from within,
out of man’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and
folly. All these evils com from inside
and make a man ‘unclean’.” We are not to fight this war alone but
together. “Everyone was filled with awe,
and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had
everything in common. Selling their possessions
and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate
together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of
all the people. And the Lord added to
their number daily those who were being saved.”
Acts 2:43-47.
To avoid the footholds and sin in our lives, we need to get back to
worshipping the only true “King of The Hill”, Jesus. I seem to remember reading, singing and learning about
a hill once. There was a "King of Kings" on that hill, too. It goes something like
this: “On a hill far away stood an old
rugged cross. The emblem of suffering
and shame. It was on that old cross that the dearest and best for a world full
of sinners was slain.”
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