Read 'em and Weep

We asked how some players at the Heads-Up Poker Championship seem to know other players' hands so well. They seem to have a gift we're admittedly still learning in live tournaments -- the skill to read an opponent.

Some new players are like that old character on The Electric Company: "Easy Reader." Their words or actions can give away what sort of hand they have. But veterans can be masters of disguise, hiding their strategy behind everything from sunglasses to hooded sweatshirts.

There's a Biblical term that can apply to the art of reading someone: discernment. Take Proverbs 28:11 for an example. "A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him." In poker, we might say you see through the big-stacked players who try to bully their way to pots with big bets.

I Corinthians 2:14 says the things of God are "spiritually discerned." People without the Holy Spirit probably don't grasp them, and certainly do not accept them. People with the Holy Spirit do.

So what about you? Are you a good reader of poker players? When all is said and done, that won't matter. Reading the mind and heart of God does matter. If you're struggling with that, ask God for help.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." - James 1:5.