Way Too Good

Sometimes it's not difficult at all to do poker ministry online. All it takes are three simple letters. Take this recent example from a "play money" cash game at PokerStars.net....

Dealer: Game #57407410106: flopblogger wins pot (340) with a full house, Jacks full of Aces
flopblogger: (whew)
Sierra Dream: VNH
flopblogger: Thanks - PTL
Sierra Dream: AMEN
flopblogger: There's one caller. :-)

We write PTL to stand for "praise the Lord" -- shorthand many people came to know from a controversial TV ministry of three decades ago. But Sierra Dream shouldn't be the only one "calling" on the Lord:

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile -- the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." -- Romans 10:12-13

The last part is in quotes because it borrows from Joel 2:32. When it comes to God, calling is good. The play continues....

Dealer: Sierra Dream has a straight, Seven to Jack
Dealer: Game #57407430793: Sierra Dream wins pot (2,425) with a straight, Seven to Jack
flopblogger: Straight is the way. :-)....
Sierra Dream: THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY
flopblogger: True....
Sierra Dream: .....He is the way, the truth & the life
flopblogger: The bright and morning star.

The "way" can refer to several things in the Bible. It can refer to the roads we travel in life....

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it. -- Matthew 7:14, KJV

Our "straight" was a deliberate play on words. The Biblical spelling appears as "small" in other translations. This verse means the road to eternal life isn't always easy. But thankfully, there's that other "way."

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." -- John 14:6

Jesus Christ opened access to the Father by living a perfect life, then sacrificing it for our sins. This may explain why the early Christian movement was known as "the Way" (see verses such as Acts 9:2 and 19:23).

So are you on that way? Or are you wandering off the path, and heading toward trouble? Chasing a straight in poker can be risky. Following the strait way Jesus offers has a strong payoff at the end -- an eternal one.