Not one of us chose to be born. But we were born anyway.
Not one of us chose our parents; nor the place of our birth or the circumstances into which we were born.
We can complain about so many things. Or we can be thankful. Or be forgetful or even worse indifferent.
But there are others who take life as it is. They try to make best use of whatever life has thrown them.
So make the best use of time and opportunities you have even when you have not much choice about what comes your way.
Life in its truest sense comes to those who do not hold on to it. They see life as a stewardship God gifted to them. They are aware that someday the Giver will ask how their life was spent.
Too much engagement with gadgets steal our lives away because we are holding on to what shouldn’t be possessing us.
Some others amass wealth and possessions. But “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”1
There are a rare few who have said like what Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” The truth I believe is to keep a loose hold on life. What you hold too tight might slip away.
But what you give in service to others, in love and sacrifice, what you gift with a smile and words of encouragement will remain.
The famous lines from the song The Gambler2 come to mind:
You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done
Every gambler knows
That the secret to survivin’
Is knowin’ what to throw away
And knowin’ what to keep
Is this not what Jesus meant when he said: “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”3?
He perhaps more than anyone else is the greatest Gambler the world has seen. When he died after having shed his blood on the cross and said “It is finished”4 he might have looked like a dismal failure. But was it?
You can read Keep Loose Hold of Life; for Life Is a Great Gamble on LinkedIn.
1Luke 12:15
2Written by Don Schlitz and made famous by Kenny Roger’s rendition.
3John 12:25
4John 19:30 Bible
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