If you're dealt two suited cards (such as 5-4 of spades), your chances of winning the hand only go up about two percent. Yet how many losing poker players have we heard make the famous statement, "They were suited"?
Yet if you're dealt a high pair pre-flop, such as "Jacks or better," your chances of taking the pot are one in 72. The odds are better - but note they're still quite long. We've also heard plenty of losing poker players complain about Q-Q or K-K being deceptively bad.
So following a suit doesn't help you much, and following up a big pair still offers no guarantee of success. Yet we think there's one Person you should follow, who offers a guaranteed return:
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." - Mark 10:21
Jesus Christ invites us to follow Him, giving up anything that might stand in the way. Sadly, the person who heard these words directly from the Lord didn't do that (verse 22). But look at what can happen if you do:
Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age.... and in the age to come, eternal life." - Mark 10:28-30
How far are you willing to go to follow Jesus -- especially if it means eternal life at the end of the road?
God may be asking you to give up something you consider important. Perhaps it's full-time poker-playing. Perhaps it's a poker buddy who drags you into bad behavior. Perhaps it's something else.
Whatever is holding you back from a relationship following Jesus Christ, don't be afraid to let that thing go. Jesus promises blessings in return - in this life and the life to come.
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