It All Goes Back In The Box

I enjoy playing board games.  One of my favorites is Ticket To Ride.  Each time we set up the board my goal is to plan my routes strategically so I will accumulate the most points at the end of the game.  As I observe life, I notice we live it very similar to how we would play a board game.  John Ortberg explains it this way,

"It's not bad to play the game.  It's not bad to be really good at it.  It's not bad to be Master of the Board.  My grandmother taught me to play to win.  But there are always more rungs to climb, more money to be made, more deals to pull off.  And the danger is that we forget to ask what really matters.  We race around the board with shallow relationships, frenzied schedules, preoccupied souls.  Being smart or strong does not protect you from this fate.  In some ways, it makes the game more dangerous, for the temporary rewards you get from playing can lull you into pretending that the game will never end."

There is a connection between our emotional scoring system and our behavior.  We tend to compare, compete, or climb.  The danger is that we will spend our lives comparing to others, competing against others, or climbing over others.  None of these emulate the call of a disciple of Jesus Christ.  Actually, Jesus came down, humbling himself by taking on humanity and becoming a servant.

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." - Philippians 2:5-8

When the game is over it all goes back in the box.  Life one day will be over and all you have accomplished, worked for, built, etc. will go back in the box.  The challenge for us is will we arrange our lives around what matters most.