I Didn't Think . . .

MONROE, Ohio - A top cop mistakenly shot himself in the thigh after giving his daughter a lesson in gun safety, police said. Middletown police Chief Greg Schwarber, 54, was preparing to clean his Glock .45-caliber pistol on Friday and didn't realize the gun was still loaded, according to a police report.

“I didn't think the gun was loaded.” These words come up often after an accidental shooting. I have never heard of someone saying, “I knew the gun was loaded but I just didn’t care.”

Yes, I do see a spiritual lesson in this incident. The Bible says, (and I will paraphrase), “The fool says that I don’t think God exists” (Psalm 14:1 ). Here's the lesson. Most people who disavow a belief in God have the same attitude as the police officer who shot himself and the fool the Psalm describes. Both assumed that there was a one-to-one correlation between what they thought and what was actually true. In fact, there was no correlation between what the wounded officer thought and reality. Likewise, there is no relation between what the “fool” thinks and reality.

God exists whether we believe it or not. True is true whether anybody believes it or not. Reality is not relative as many seem to “think” these days. If God exists whether we believe it or not and if the truths set out in His Word are true whether anybody believes them or not then the consequence of foolishly ignoring the salvation God offers is true whether anybody believes it or not.

The Bible says in another book, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation” (Hebrews 2:3). This is a rhetorical question in which the answer presumed by the question is: “we can’t.” It does not matter what a person thinks; what matters is what is true?

People who ignore the call of God upon their consciences and the clear message of the Bible are playing with a loaded gun. It will be too late when the person stands before God in judgment. No person will then be able to escape the eternal punishment of hell by saying, “I didn’t think hell existed,” or “I didn’t think the Bible was true.”

Only a fool would play with a loaded gun. Don’t be foolish.