The Player

The other day, I played chess. I had forgotten many of the moves. I didn't win, but I remembered something that I didn't want to be.

I thank God, I am not a pawn moved by irresistible forces. I am a person. I have a name. My name is Adam, meaning "mankind". I am subject to problems of the human family. But I am also inheritor of all the culture, and blessings brought to mankind as part of the human family.

Jesus once said to Peter, "You are Cephas, (meaning Peter, the Rock) and like Peter, I too have a name. Society may try to make me into a number, a Social Security number, a telephone number, a zip code number, an office number, an extension number, a tax number. But still I have a name. My name is Jo Smith, or Harriet White, or a million other names. And I am important in this world.

I am told, that if I have one child, and that child marries and has children, and these children marry, and have children, etc....that within 5 generations, I will have been responsible for 9,000 living souls. That's almost unbelievable, but that is certainly a part of what I am. I am family.

But not only this, when I take a breath...just one single breath, I am told that the whole world has to make a re‑adjustment...so dependent are we upon one another. This is me. I am a grain of sand upon the sea‑shore of the universe, but I count for something. There is importance given to me.

Somehow in the course of history, through His Son upon a cross, God made it clear that He loves us. Since that time, every Christian Church in the world, has been telling us about it, and I believe it.

And because we are loved, we must respond. My life must be lived, in worthiness, and in trust so that a deposit (a contribution) can be made. For some, life seems so futile. They live a routine existence, with never any thought of a holy relationship, any divine connection. But it is something like being on Candid Camera. I never realize that much of the world is being either shocked, or saddened, or amused, or challenged by my actions.

At times, I think that life is like a wheel. It goes around faster and faster. We are all upon this wheel of life. The faster it goes, the harder it is to stay on. Every day some folks slip off this wheel of sanity. But remember: at the center of the wheel is our Christian faith. All other forces may be trying to throw you off. But here, at the center is God, and like a magnet, He holds you on.

You are the player. You must make the moves, but if you are willing to let Him do so, God will keep you on course!