Deal or No Deal

I Corinthians 9:24-25 (NIV)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

There is a fun and exhilarating game showed called Deal or No Deal! Players choose a numbered case out of a total of 21 options in hopes it will contain one million dollars. As the game proceeds, the player chooses cases to reveal the amount of money in each case. At intervals, the banker will offer the player a certain amount of money to “sell” their case and leave the game. More careful players opt out early when the dollar amount is just enough to meet their needs. The more reckless players will continue to the very end. Ultimately the player chooses to see their choice through to the end or they will leave the game for a compromising amount less than the grand prize. The only way to become a millionaire is to stand firm in your choice and make it to the end with the right case. It is heart stopping to watch the players who make it the very end. It becomes all or nothing usually. More interesting is how players are influenced by the audience, family and friends who are present to give in and accept the banker’s offer for less and second guess their choice.

Life is not a game show but it sometimes imitates art! What makes people compromise their hopes and dreams for something much less?  Tenacity is required of those who seek to achieve all that God has called them to do. Goals make us reach higher. They make us stretch. If it doesn’t require reaching then it is not a goal but a task. Athletes endure stringent training schedules, strict diets and endless endurance tests to be ready to compete for a temporary prize yet we give up quickly rather than press to have all that God Promises. Many people live the game of “Deal or No Deal” with God every single day. With the dream or vision that God has given them in one hand, they daily consider other offers that the enemy readily supplies. Such doubt causes second guessing salvation, settling for second best, and missing the victory that a God-Honoring life produces. Each step closer to destiny produces more challenging trials and distractions. The enemy does not want you to experience all that God has for you. Your adversary believes that if he can just make you settle then a small victory will be his. God’s abundant blessing has nothing to do with second best consolation prizes, but rather the crowns of glory to cast at the feet of Jesus Christ one day! Your life will magnify Christ in your victories whether you say anything or not, the persistence and perseverance speaks for itself. In exchange for your faith, God will reward you with prosperity in this life. Prosperity is not always monetary – it includes peace, joy, love and more. If the devil can just get you to doubt the promises of God for your life, you will turn in your faith for his runner-up reward thereby missing what God intended for your life in Christ!

I Timothy 6:11-16 (Message)

But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses. I’m charging you before the life-giving God and before Christ, who took his stand before Pontius Pilate and didn’t give an inch: Keep this command to the letter, and don’t slack off. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He’ll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He’s the only one death can’t touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He’s never been seen by human eyes—human eyes can’t take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes.

The charge given Timothy in I Timothy is the same for us today! We must hold tightly to that which we have been called to and the eternal prize that Jesus Christ has promised. There is no compromise for the righteous of the Lord. There is no second best! Hold your position today as Jesus did before Pontius Pilate. Be confident of what God has promised enough to stake your entire life on it! Live like it! Be that person that makes it to the end and claims the grand prize.  He is coming back for you! You can count it! So don’t take the deal! Tell the devil “NO DEAL” today!