Kiss it for Good Luck!

The other day I was bowling with a guy from church. As I picked up my ball, I watched an older gentleman a few lanes over kiss the ball in his hand. He then proceeded to throw the ball down the lane. The man was too far away for me to ask why he had kissed his bowling ball. The only sane reason, if you want to call it that, for him kissing that ball would be that he did it for "good luck."

Now let's get serious here for a moment. In some superstitious way this man believes, on some level, that the smooch he gives to his bowling ball is going to positively affect the way the ball acts after it leaves his hand. Now you and I both know that there is no way that his "good luck" kiss has any bearing on the roll of the ball. His kiss, the "lucky" rabbit's foot, unwashed sports gear, a four leaf clover, and a horseshoe over a doorway have nothing inherently "lucky" about them. So why do we do silly, superstitious things? Do we honestly believe that there is some way that our golf swing can be corrected or our chances of winning the lottery will change because of a ritual we perform or something we wear? When we step back and look at it rationally we know there isn't anything that is really "lucky." But some still swear by it.

The reason Christians have to be careful about foolishness like "lucky" things is that we step away from God when we believe in them or rely on them. What we are doing is telling God that we put more faith in the dismembered foot of a dead animal to provide something good for us than the faith we put in Him. God can and does choose to bless us at different times and in different ways. But there is no such thing as luck or chance. If we believe that there is such things as luck or chance then we limit our view of God and we ultimately say God is limited. If we believe in luck or chance, we end up saying that there is something that is beyond God's control. Colossians 1:17 tells us that Jesus holds all things together, meaning He is in charge of everything. If luck were true then the Bible would be wrong.

Here's a way to work this new understanding of luck and chance into your life. Try and catch yourself every time you say that you, someone, or something is lucky then replace it with fortunate. It's a real challenge at first, but well worth it when you realize that you've made it a habit.

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