Time Marches On

The man sitting next to the dealer had a big decision to make with his cards. But he barely had time to go into the cliché "tank" to think about it.

"Clock!" a woman two seats away said the other day at Kansas Star Casino.

"Floor!" the dealer said in response. The Tournament Director was called over, and the situation was explained.

Two things struck the other players about this moment. First, the man with the decision had been mulling things over for no longer than one minute. Second, the woman who called for a clock already had folded her cards.

"Anyone can call for a clock," the dealer told us - even if you're out of the hand.

Clocks can be a funny thing in poker. Sometimes we wish the blinds would slow down, to prevent  more of our chip stack from being put at risk. But there are times when we wish the clock would move faster, so we can get to a break and regroup.

Life around poker can be like that as well. We had to hurry through a morning schedule filled with hold-ups simply to get to the poker room that day. Yet if you're in a multi-day tournament, the wait for play to resume can seem like days instead of hours.

But consider the bigger picture. On one hand, our lives can seem long and filled with possibilities....

The length of our days is 70 years - or 80, if we have the strength.... - Psalm 90:10

For the teenager and young adult, that's a marathon. But many players who gather for midday poker tournaments already have experienced most of that. So the verse continues:

...Yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. - Psalm 90:10b

And from the perspective of an eternal God, those years truly are short:

For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. - Psalm 90:4

That's why it's a good idea to make the most of every day, whether it means playing poker or not:

Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. - Ephesians 5:15-16

The King James Version says "redeeming the time" - and our longtime Pastor in Georgia often noted "evil" can mean in Greek "hurtful in its effect upon you."

There's no guarantee how much time we have left on this earth. But Jesus made a sobering promise about what happens when that time is up....

But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. - Matthew 12:36-37

If you haven't cleaned up your words, we don't think you need to wait for "spring cleaning" to do it. Start it now - than expand that concept to cleaning up dirty, sinful areas of your life. After all, someone may find a way (perhaps without even realizing it) to have God call "clock" on you.