The Strategy of Life

My sister (Rose) and my dad love to play chess together.  I try to play with them—when they're at a stalemate, I ask them to simply surrender to me.  But they're both of the mind that chess is a two person game, not a three person game.  A couple days ago when I was watching one of their games, I suddenly thought of something that was pretty cool.  I guess you can decide for yourself if you think it is or not.  My thought was this:  our lives are a game of chess.  Have I lost you yet?

You see, when I play a game of chess with either my dad or my sister, I inevitably lose.  It's not an understatement—I think that I've won two games in the last six or seven years.  It helps that I got tired of the game a couple years ago and haven't played much since, but the real reason is this:  I have no strategy.  At all.  And as my sister constantly telling me, chess is a game of strategy.  Which basically means that with no strategy, you don't stand a chance against my dad or my sister, both of which have a real gift for good strategy, as well as for winning.  Without strategy, chess becomes a long game of sadness.  Slowly, methodically, my pieces die.  And Rose's win.  And somehow, by the time I manage to capture one pawn, she has my king in checkmate.  See why I don't play chess? 

The game of life is like the game of chess.  Without strategy, without being able to see ahead and plan for what you deduct is going to happen, the game of life becomes a slow game of killing off your thoughts, hopes, dreams, and wishes until you lie bare and unprotected, and die alone, without the lowliest pawn to protect you.  But it doesn’t have to be like that. 

If I played chess with my dad "on my team" (aka, telling me what to do and where to put my pieces), I would play a lot differently.  I would win, or at least give Rose a challenging game.  But by myself, I'm not a good chess player.  I lack the strategy I need to play a good game.  It's the same in life—by ourselves, we'll lose.  But with God—the One who has the strategy—we will win.  The strategy God tells us is simple to understand, though hard to accept.  We need to admit that we are sinners, that we are people who don't do the right things in every circumstance.  God does.  And He can't associate with people who are the exact opposite of what and who he is; it's impossible for him to have a relationship with a person who hates Him.  And any sinner is someone who hates God, whether he knows it or not.  Because we are sinners, we are condemned to death.  It's the only righteous punishment for our sins; we can't win the game on our own, we lack the strategy to win.  That's why Jesus came.  He died for you, gave himself, a righteous being, up to Death for you, because He loved you so much.  Because He is the strategy, and therefore knows and understands the strategy, He was able to rise again.  He had beaten Death and won the game.  He knows all the devil's moves by heart, and he can navigate your way through the game of life for you.  All you need to do is ask Him.  Tell Him that you want to accept His gift of life, and that you want to give Him your game.  He can win it for you, but first, you need to ask Him.  He's waiting.  The devil's winning.  What will you do?