Playing Your Cards

“‘We would have healed Babylon,
   but she cannot be healed;
let us leave her and each go to our own land,
   for her judgment reaches to the skies,
   it rises as high as the heavens.’ – Jeremiah 51

Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 51-52; Hebrews 9

Life is a lot like the game of poker at times. The best we can do is play the cards we are dealt.

We have different things that come into our lives. Sometimes these cards are good and worthy of holding on to and betting on. Other times they are ok. They have potential, and depending on the situation they may be worth holding on to, to see how they pan out. But other times what we get is garbage. The earlier we decide to fold those hands the better off we are in the long run.

Of course we cannot fold our cards in all of the situations in our lives. We cannot give back or family or our genetics. No matter what we think about where we come from, it is in fact where we come from.

But there is so much about life that we can choose to walk away from, to let die, rather than putting energy into it hoping that it will spring to life and bear fruit.

This is why we prune things. In order to grow most efficiently we must cut away that which is holding back life. We have to rid ourselves of people, places and situations that are taking more from us than they are giving.

This theme has come up time and time again in our reading and I don’t think it is an accident. I think the repetition is a necessary reminder because it is often hard to cut away those things that once gave us life.

Have you noticed that there are some things in your life that need to be cut away?