8.6.25 ~ The Game of Life

Good morning

In this week's tour portion, Va'etchanan/and I pleaded, we can divide Deuteronomy chapters 4, 5 and 6 into three distinct relational  thoughts. Chapter 4 deals with the infatuation stage where "muscles are flexed" and Israel recognizes that there is no One better than the God of all creation. Chapter 5, contains the Ketubah, marriage terms of the covenant. The commitment is made to be with one another for better or for better :-) Than chapter 6 is all about oneness/echad; becoming one in every area of life. The purpose behind the marriage covenant is to grow together as one, which is the focal point of life of every intimate relationship.

When my kids were knee-high to a grasshopper, we used to play the board game of life, and it was fun, driving around our little colored cars to different places on the board, determined by the spinner, being told when we could get married, when we could have children, how many children we would have, the size of our house and all of the details That make for a happy life to win the game.

Fortunately, life is not that simple or boring. And fortunately, unlike the game where you don’t have any options, this life provides tremendous options with a lot of choices… So choose wisely. In the board game, there was no application of any skill set or any strategy involved at all. Your life and winning was decided by the spin of the wheel. In other words, you didn’t have any fate or any choice in the matter; the whole game was played in a defensive and passive mode. There were no offensive moves of action required. You could marry to gain leverage and to advance your position, but that was it. This is a limiting game; nothing like life itself.

As we head into the 18th day of counting towards the first fruit of the oil, I realize that, like the 'bored game', this is exactly how many people are playing the actual game of life. Whether it’s spiritually, emotionally, physically, relationally or financially.

Now of course that's not you, but many people wake up each day and they just spin The wheel. They open up their email, they log into social media channels, they open up their laptop or desktop, they walk into their office in a second bedroom or the actual outside office space, they see what is put in front of them, they read what’s on the square their phone, their computer screen and they just do exactly what it says. They spend the next hour or two responding to emails, making  comments and reacting or posting on social media, answering the knock at the door, the notifications on their instant messenger or text messages...

Their whole day is defense. They make very few offensive moves according to their goals, their agenda, their dreams, their hopes in their ambitions. Very seldom any offensive moves that require vital work to gain leverage and advance their position. I know all about this. I’ve got the T-shirt! In fact I’ve got many T-shirts like this where I've spent vast chunks of time trying to keep up with other people’s requests, responding to other people's agenda items, being called to jump in to do or to finish somebody else’s job responsibility.

Think how often you work like mad all day and look up and it’s five or 6 o’clock. You look back down to your plan for the day the projects that you were supposed to work with your "head down time" that you were going to spend to move the needle of progress on your big goal and you did nothing nothing of progress on your BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) that was on your agenda because you only played defense all day when you played defense all day you were on your heels the whole day. Sadly, too many people spend most of their life on their heels, spinning the wheel, just reacting to life and doing what others ask them to do; missing the opportunity to be all God called them to be.

My brother was a midfield soccer player at the highest level and his coach would always teach that 99% of the time you need to attack. The best defense was an aggressive offense. They were to attack the ball and attack the goal constantly, relentlessly, energetically playing aggressive offense; giving you control of the game. That mindset allows you to control the pace and for you to own the momentum of play.

It’s this mentality that causes you to create a championship life and victorious day. The last thing that you want to do is to start your day on your heels. You want to get out of bed immediately, get up on your toes and attack the ball (aka your day). Attack! Your MVPs (Most Valuable Priorities) are that you attack the important projects to get the needle moving your goals and your mission. It's the same way spiritually and that's what Moses is reiterating in Deuteronomy 4-6.

Unlike the second generation that is about to enter the Promised Land, via the instructions of Deut. 4-6, too many of us just sit back content that we’re going to die and go to heaven. We enjoy picking up our morning devotion with a cup of coffee. We finish our 10 or 15 minutes reading and say a quick prayer that’s at the bottom of the page and we drift off into the day Spinning the wheel wondering what’s gonna happen. Ugh!

The book of Deuteronomy is a Suzerain covenant that screams attack, attack, attack, and attack. You've been going around this mountain too long. Be on the offensive. Achieve your goal. Make an impact in the world. Live in such a way that people want what you’ve got; as I shared with you on Monday night Zoom call.

We can always make more money. What you can't do is get back time lost in the vital areas of life (spiritually, emotionally, physically, relationally and financially).  Quit playing defensive! Attack, attack with a mindset that is  offensive, not offending, in every area of life (Matt. 11:11,12).. Are you playing the "board game of life" or are you just bored?

Shalom,
Alan