Play To Win

All games have players and rules. The game of life is no different. And in order to win in life, you have to know the rules and understand the position you play. The first thing you should know is that you are a child of the Most High God, so you are automatically on the winning team. Second, those for you are greater than those against you. Third, the one against you, the primary one, is cunning and clever. And often times, he uses the small things in life to get us off track, not usually the big ones. 

From what I have experienced, the devil's technique is a snowball effect of depletion, distraction and delay that leads to the destruction of your spiritual growth. And that depletion usually begins with a small habit or misstep that seemed, at the time, quite harmless. 

So instead of the bottom falling out and everything going wrong, it looks a little more like this. You get relaxed this week, spending impulsively, not wrecklessly, but without much thought. By the end of the week, you realize you spent more than you planned and now you're distracted thinking about how to make up for it. So you pick up an extra shift, maybe the Sunday you planned to go to church or help a neighbor. As the second Sunday rolls around you're too tired to do anything at all. Before you know it, you've neglected yourself spiritually for weeks. He didn't destroy you, he just delayed you. Day by day, week by week, so that your purpose in life is not fulfilled. And you're too busy to even notice. 

So I encourage you, pay attention and stay on guard. Pray constantly, read your bible regularly, and consult God on every little decision. The conversation that you see going left, disengage. Walk away before you say the thing that makes you feel bad about yourself (the depletion) that keeps you thinking about it all day (the distraction) that keeps you from working on the things you should be focused on (the delay). The delays add up, my friend. And life, true life, is lost in the balance.