The downfall of basketball player Lamar Odom is a heart-wrenching saga of the rise and fall of a sports figure. In fact anyone being found lying unconscious in a Las Vegas brothel is indeed unfortunate. Odom however, even with his fame and fortune, is not immune from sin's disbursement. Because the worse part of a man's life is not how one dies or lives but the final paycheck one receives if that individual dies and is not in Christ. In fact, to this day, sin has never changed it's payment- it's wages are always paid in the unchanging currency of death. (Romans 6:23) The focus of the Christian however is not on the sick bodies that lie in hospital beds but the soul of a person who is bound for eternal darkness.(Matthew 8:12). The tragedy of a pro ball player, is no different than the tragedy of a housewife, a wall street banker, an auto mechanic or any individual who has not dealt with sin. The sin of someone living as a celebrity, athlete or high roller in a world of sex, drugs and rock and roll, is no different than the local plumber in suburbia or a shop keeper in the inner city of urban America that is trapped in a cycle of lying, coveting and idolatry. Whenever the horrors of vice happens to someone of stature, we focus on the vice or activity that led to the calamity but the root problem of sin is bypassed. Let us pray that "we enter not into temptation but are delivered from evil". For Jesus Himself said: "...Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin." (John 8:34). So the first priority for anyone who is sick is the soul first the body second. " for what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul"( Mark 8:36). Because hell is the worse place you can go -not Vegas.
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