God and Poker

I don't have any new information about the treatment, so I decided to post some ramblings I have had about God and faith. Today the final table for the World Series of Poker's main event meets on ESPN. It's the perfect time to use a poker analogy for Christian theology.

I would like to talk about a topic that came up in last night's Bible study. We are often told that we ought to make God the priority in our lives. But really, what does that mean? Does it mean that we should abandon card games and family vacations in favor of excluding ourselves in a Monastary for around the clock worship and prayer? I do not think so.

On Sunday night we had our weekly poker night. Early in the game I was playing very poorly and making bad decisions. I was pushing when I shouldn't be, not taking advantage of strong positions and loosing chips quickly. One time I even folded the best hand because I wasn't focused enough to see the straight draw I hit. One of the excellent poker players there, Sean, was not in the game and sat down behind me to watch. As a courtesy, I showed him my cards each hand so that the game could be more interesting to him.

From that point on, my game play improved considerably. I started making smart decisions. It occurred to me that each hand I was considering what Sean must be thinking and I did not want to exhibit any poor judgment on my part. All he was doing was just sitting there, but still, I was benefiting from it. I ended up winning the tournament.

As we go about our lives, making decisions as we go, we should be sure to show our hand to God as often as we can. We are prone to making poor decisions due to impatience, irritability and selfishness. The best thing we can do to avoid these bad choices is to expose our situation to God. It's not that God doesn't already know what our hand is, but it forces us to consider God in our decision. We are often faced with difficult decisions, and when it comes down to it, we almost always know what the right choice is, if we are only willing to consider it.

I believe this is what it means to make God the priority in our lives. It is to know that He is always sitting behind us and that we should give Him the consideration of showing Him our hand, regardless of what cards we are dealt in life.