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 Sunday

   Bible Classes (10:00 am)

   AM Worship (11:00 am)

   PM Worship (3:00 pm)

 Thursday

   Bible Classes (7:35 pm)

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Piedmont Family YMCA

442 Westfield Road

Charlottesville, VA 22901
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The Behind-the-Back Pass

by Steve Klein

Basketball fans know about the behind-the-back pass.  A player comes dribbling the ball down the court, with a defender guarding him closely.   The player with the ball moves one direction as a teammate moves to get open near the goal.  Then it happens.  Without looking, the player with the ball whips the ball behind his back in the direction of his teammate, who catches it, and hopefully finds himself in the open for an easy basket.  The amazing thing about the behind-the- back pass is that, while he is passing, the passer usually sees neither his teammate nor the ball.  He's blind to both (and usually, so is the defender).

We just don't see what we throw behind our backs.

The Scriptures use this metaphor in a couple of interesting ways.  In 1 Kings 14:9 the Lord told wicked King Jeroboam, "but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back."  The Lord issues a similar condemnation to the inhabitants of Jerusalem in Ezekiel 23:35: "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, Therefore you shall bear the penalty of your lewdness and your harlotry.'"  In both of these cases, individuals became so focused on their own worldly ambitions and pleasures that they threw God behind their backs.  When they did so, they lost sight of Him.  And when He was out of their sight, He was out of their minds and their lives. 

How often do modern men and women do the same?  We become so focused on our day to day wants and desires that we forget about God!  Covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5), prevents us from seeing and serving the God who lives!

The second way this "behind-the-back" metaphor is used in Scripture is found in Isaiah 38:17.  Here, good King Hezekiah recalls how God had recently restored his health and blessed his life.  He says, "Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back."  When God throws our sins behind His back, they are out of His sight.  They are forgiven!

Not long before she died in 1988, in a moment of candor during a television interview, Marghanita Laski, a well known atheist and secular humanist, said, "What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me."

We are so blessed to have a God who throws our sins behind His back -- putting them out of His mind, and if we will accept it, out of ours as well. 

Other Articles by Steve Klein
The Spirit of the Sadducees
Shall We Overcome?
Are You Attached?