Just A Game

When my family is ready to play a board game, they hesitate before asking me to
join in.  The nice word for my personality is "competitive"; some would say I'm
just a sore loser.  Yes, I get much too involved at times.  I need to remember
that it's only a game.

You'll no longer be able to convince Clay Carpenter that golf is just a game.
This 48-year-old resident of the Dallas-Forth Worth area was playing a round of
golf with friends earlier this year.  The group in front of them were slower
than most, and the course marshal told Carpenter's group to play through.  One
in the slow group didn't take kindly to the gesture and began swinging his
putter.

The next thing he knew, Clay's leg was gushing blood; the putter had sliced open
his femoral artery.  He feared for his life (with good reason), but was
thankfully rushed to a hospital where appropriate care was given.  One question
remains: Can his leg be saved?  There's a real possibility amputation may still
be needed.  No, golf for some is clearly not just a game.

March Madness is in full force; 68 college basketball teams were recently chosen
to compete for the national championship.  Would any of us say these are just
games?  When you see the tears at the end of the games and consider the millions
of dollars that will be wagered on outcomes (illegally, we should note), we
again must conclude - no, these are more than games.

Someone has observed about our American culture that we play at our work and
work at our play.  That doesn't apply to all, of course; maybe not even to most.
But some clearly need to reevaluate their priorities.  Life is not a game.  Yes,
it can be fun at times, but there are certain objectives that must be met.  

A powerful king once reflected on his life and saw many examples of
meaninglessness.  His opening words show how he viewed most of his life:
"'Vanity of vanities,' says the Preacher; 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity'"
(Ecclesiastes 1:2).

This assessment of life did not come from a "loser".  In his writing he mentions
various things he had pursued: pleasure, houses, gardens, servants, precious
gems and metals, etc.  He had tried it all at one time or another.  "Whatever my
eyes desired I did not keep from them.  I did not withhold my heart from any
pleasure ... [but] There was no profit under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:10,11).

Not until the close of his book does the author (probably King Solomon) reveal
the one true pursuit that makes life meaningful: "Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all"
(Ecclesiastes 12:13).  In fearing God, he is saying, our lives will be based on
the correct priorities.

One even wiser than Solomon affirmed that God's way of life is the correct
approach.  Jesus said this in John 10:10: " ... I have come that they may have
life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  His apostle Paul would later
elaborate on the enjoyment that life brings: "Command those who are rich in this
present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the
living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy" (1 Timothy 6:17).

Life can (and should) be enjoyed!  But we have to begin with God to make that
happen.


 Timothy D. Hall