Magic 8 Balls can be fun to use. From where I'm from, toy stores don't usually sell Magic 8 Balls, but I have an aunt who sent me one back when I was a teenager. A Magic 8 Ball, if you've never seen one, it's basically just a big plastic ball used for fortune telling and seeking advice. You shake it and it has a small dice in it that gives an answer.
You might be thinking right now that that sounds exactly like what your Bible is supposed to do or probably even what God is supposed to do. But that is not how God's Word or God works at all.
God's Word and God can give us mighty wonderful direction in life. Proverbs 3:6 (NIV) says "in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." But we should never mistake God or His Word as being a Magic 8 Ball that bends to our will. The first time I handled that 8 Ball, I would shake again and again until I got the answer I wanted to see.
This reminds me of my position in life half a decade back when I first heard God's call to enter full-time vocational ministry. At that point, I wasn't really interested in listening to God's call. I had just established a flourishing small enterprise that was earning me a lot of money and promised a lavish lifestyle. I would often come to God in prayer saying "Lord, bless my business. Don't take it away from me," but also knowing that God was saying to sell my business and serve Him in a full-time capacity.
I'm not saying that we should all drop whatever we're doing and serve God full-time in ministry, but we all have a certain call of our own. Maybe God's calling you into the academic world, a venture, a relationship or out of a certain comfort zone even and just like a Magic 8 Ball you "shake" God's Word again trying to find the answer that will convenience you.
When we give our life to Christ, what that really means is in all we do He is in charge. God cannot be in charge of ninety-nine percent of your life. It's all or nothing. But many of us are holding on to something - may it be a relationship, career, or even sin issue - thinking God is fine with having the majority of control. God does not want the majority. He wants everything.
Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 that we are all called to "...love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Is there one area of your life where you still deem God and His Word as a Magic 8 Ball? How can you surrender that area of your life today?
