When I was a very young boy, my uncle taught me to play checkers.
When I was a little older, a family friend gave me a chess and checkers set.
As much as I liked to play checkers, I was fascinated by the chess pieces.
I really wanted to learn how to play chess but at that young age I could not read the instructions and no one in my world knew how to play.
As time went by, I grew older, my world grew larger and I learned how to read.
One day, as I browsed through a bookstore, I discovered that many books had been written on the game of chess.
I was delighted.
I carefully selected a book that not only explained the rules of the game but also taught some of the strategies.
I remember how I went through all the example situations time and time again.
As time continued to go by I read every book on the game I could get my hands on while at the same time my world grew larger.
Eventually, my world grew large enough that I had a handful of friends that also enjoyed the game.
We played when we could and I was not disappointed with my apparent knowledge and mastery of the game.
After graduating from high school, my world grew larger still and I entered a few tournaments.
Although I never won a competition I was glad to meet new people who shared this interest and my game continued to improve.
I recall a time when I was in my twenties and I entered a tournament.
I faced my first opponent and was shocked by how quickly he defeated me in the first game.
Not to be deterred, I decided that in the second game I would play much more carefully.
Yet, despite my best effort, my opponent defeated me fairly easily.
That second loss eliminated me in the first round but rather than dwell on that I congratulated my opponent and complimented his play.
He graciously accepted and we spoke for a few minutes.
I simply had to know what books he had read so that I could learn from them as well.
I was astounded to learn that he had never read a single book written about the game.
He had many brothers and sisters growing up and played chess every single day.
He continued to play daily while he attended college.
It was his wealth of experience that enabled him to defeat me as easily as he had.
The Christian walk is a lot like that.
We can read the Bible plus all the other Christian books and magazines available to us.
Yet, it is how we choose to live out our lives every day that determines whether or not we live as Christians.
Scripture is important and I would not for a moment suggest that it is not.
Yet knowledge of scripture without living out what it teaches makes one a scholar, not a Christian.
It is our relationship with the Trinity and our fellow man that determines where we are in our Christian walk.
These relationships, when deepened on a daily basis, improve our lives and the lives of others significantly.
Jesus put it this way.
Mark 12:30-31 (NET) - "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these."
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com
When I was a little older, a family friend gave me a chess and checkers set.
As much as I liked to play checkers, I was fascinated by the chess pieces.
I really wanted to learn how to play chess but at that young age I could not read the instructions and no one in my world knew how to play.
As time went by, I grew older, my world grew larger and I learned how to read.
One day, as I browsed through a bookstore, I discovered that many books had been written on the game of chess.
I was delighted.
I carefully selected a book that not only explained the rules of the game but also taught some of the strategies.
I remember how I went through all the example situations time and time again.
As time continued to go by I read every book on the game I could get my hands on while at the same time my world grew larger.
Eventually, my world grew large enough that I had a handful of friends that also enjoyed the game.
We played when we could and I was not disappointed with my apparent knowledge and mastery of the game.
After graduating from high school, my world grew larger still and I entered a few tournaments.
Although I never won a competition I was glad to meet new people who shared this interest and my game continued to improve.
I recall a time when I was in my twenties and I entered a tournament.
I faced my first opponent and was shocked by how quickly he defeated me in the first game.
Not to be deterred, I decided that in the second game I would play much more carefully.
Yet, despite my best effort, my opponent defeated me fairly easily.
That second loss eliminated me in the first round but rather than dwell on that I congratulated my opponent and complimented his play.
He graciously accepted and we spoke for a few minutes.
I simply had to know what books he had read so that I could learn from them as well.
I was astounded to learn that he had never read a single book written about the game.
He had many brothers and sisters growing up and played chess every single day.
He continued to play daily while he attended college.
It was his wealth of experience that enabled him to defeat me as easily as he had.
The Christian walk is a lot like that.
We can read the Bible plus all the other Christian books and magazines available to us.
Yet, it is how we choose to live out our lives every day that determines whether or not we live as Christians.
Scripture is important and I would not for a moment suggest that it is not.
Yet knowledge of scripture without living out what it teaches makes one a scholar, not a Christian.
It is our relationship with the Trinity and our fellow man that determines where we are in our Christian walk.
These relationships, when deepened on a daily basis, improve our lives and the lives of others significantly.
Jesus put it this way.
Mark 12:30-31 (NET) - "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these."
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com
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