Everyday Adventures GAME OVER The drugstore by my grandma’s house had a small arcade where I used to go to play Donkey Kong and a video game called Joust. I had to pay a quarter for each game, but some of the teenagers who hung out there figured out how to play for free. These guys had a special quarter with a piece of fishing line taped to it. If you dropped it in the coin slot just right, you could trick the game into thinking you’d paid your 25 cents. Then you could reel the quarter back up and do it all over again, playing as many times as you wanted. It was the next best thing to owning your own arcade. Except, of course, it was stealing. I never tried it myself, but it was fun to watch. One guy was skilled enough with the trick quarter that he could rack up dozens of games without breaking a sweat. His buddy, however, just didn’t have the touch. The first time he put his rigged quarter into a pinball machine, it got stuck. He tugged at the fishing line trying to yank it free, but he snapped the line and lost the whole thing in the coin slot. When the guy who owned the drugstore came to fix the jammed machine, the jig was up. There was the smoking gun right inside the cabinet: quarter, tape and all. Sometimes I feel a bit like those teenagers in my relationship with God. I’m always trying to beat the system. I surrender just enough of my life to God to try get credit for it, but then I yank it back before I fully release it to Him. Jesus met a guy one day who had the May/June <strong>2017</strong> • 50 same problem. On the outside it looked like he had it all together. He was a good guy and followed all the rules, but Jesus knew inside he was holding out, finding his value and security in his money instead of in God. So Jesus told him to sell all of his stuff and give the money away to the poor. All of it. It was the next best thing to owning your own arcade. Except, of course, it was stealing. The guy didn’t know what to do. Up until this point he had always been able to beat the system. He had a checklist of good deeds a mile long — all the ways he was able to obey God just enough to rack up plenty of credit for his reputation. But Jesus didn’t care about his reputation. He cared about his heart. And He knew this man would be a prisoner of his possessions unless he let them go. As long as he held onto his stuff, his stuff would hold onto him. And so it goes with us. It may not be the love of money you’re holding onto. It may be a love for approval. On days when you’re praised, you’re on top of the world, but you crumble at the first sign of criticism. Your worth is built on what people say about you instead of what God says about you. If approval’s not your thing, maybe it’s control. You’re a planner and as long as everything and everyone cooperates with your plan, life is good, but when unexpected problems arise or people don’t follow the plan, heaven help anyone who gets in your way. It could be an addiction, even a socially acceptable one. I tend to use food to deal with stress or sadness instead of taking my pain to God and learning to depend on Him. It wouldn’t seem like a big deal to anyone else, but for me, I know I’m holding out on what’s God’s asked me to release. I wish I could tell you that the rich young man followed Jesus’ advice better than I do, but the Bible tells us that he went away sad because he loved his stuff way more than he loved God. I get it. I do the same thing every day. The older I get, though, the more I realize that when I hold out on God, I’m really just holding out on myself. I’m missing out on God’s best, trying to rig a game, where in the end, the only loser is me. • Photo credit: Shutterstock.com / Iconic Bestiary Jason Byerly is a writer, pastor, husband and dad who loves the quirky surprises God sends his way every day. You can catch up with Jason on his blog at www.jasonbyerly.com or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jasondbyerly.
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