DAILY DEVOTIONAL – September 12, 2019
“Stack’em Up!”
Prayer: There is nothing and no one more important than you God. We are often reminded of that when our world comes tumbling down. In Your mercy Lord, help our hearts to treasure You above all things, for You alone are our rock. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Scripture: Matthew 22:35-40
One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Devotion – “Stack’em Up!”
Video games have been entertaining people for decades; and don’t think that it’s only the younger generations that enjoy them either. Male and female adults alike and in increasing measure turn to video games for entertainment, not only for themselves, but many families today are gathering around the video screen like previous generations of families gathered around board games. Though there have countless titles of video games over the years, and though today’s video games are mind-blowing in their 3-D reality capabilities, there are only a handful that have left a lasting impression on the world – and those games are some of the very first originals. Games, like Pong, Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros., have had great influence on many generations, but there is one game that, at least to me, that stands out above the rest. A game that to this day is still played both in its original form and many different variations. A game that occupied countless hours for my brother and I – the game of Tetris.
The way Tetris works is simple: and endless stream of blocks that come in a variety of geometric shapes cascade down from the top of the screen. The player must negotiate and manipulate these blocks trying to stack the blocks into straight horizontal rows and lines. When one or more horizontal lines are formed, they disappear making room for more blocks to be stacked upon each other. As the game progresses, the blocks start dropping faster, making it increasingly difficult to stack the blocks correctly.
Tetris was and is loads of fun to play. For me, however, there has always been so much more to the game than just strategically stacking blocks. Even more than the spatial reasoning skills this game is great at teaching, Tetris is a game that is a wonderful metaphor for life and an important life lesson. Life is full of stacking. A huge part of life is learning how to stack responsibilities and priorities, knowing that once you eliminate one set, a new set will shortly take its place. Every day the blocks of life cascade down in a seeming endless stream: blocks of work, a mortgage, kids, a spouse, church and faith, school, housework and of course, finances. Learning the art of stacking and prioritizing is an absolute necessity if we hope to live healthy and happy lives.
Our gracious Lord knows how overwhelming the blocks can be at times and how impossible it can be to stack everything the right way and clear space for more. In fact, He gives His children a set of priorities to follow to ensure that we can experience the healthy and happy life that Christ died to give us. Christ tells us very clearly what blocks are the most important in the stack. In our text for today from Matthew 22, Jesus is questioned by some religious experts about which is the greatest commandment of God, and Jesus simply replied: “To love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind” (Matthew 22:37). The religious Pharisees were thinking that Jesus would list some rule or regulation from God as a first priority, but Christ reveals the real Law of God: The Law of Love. Loving God more than anything in life and living that love for him transcends all else that we do. It is the first block that we stack everything else on. Jesus tells us how to stack our priorities. We should stack our blocks in such a way that they build up in the love God has for us in Christ, and that builds up our faith in Him and love for Him. That is always the first priority. Christ doesn’t stop there though, He also adds that the second greatest command, the second most important block in the stack, is to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). The main priority of this game we call life is a fervent love for God, followed by a fervent love for others. Those are the blocks around which we stack all others. Only then will we find that we can happily and healthily manage all of the blocks in life.
So, as you and I set out each day to continue our own life-game of Tetris, let’s take a few moments to look at how we are stacking the blocks of life. As the blocks of responsibility and opportunity fall into your lap, how are you placing them in your life? The game of life is more than stacking for the purpose of entertainment. Life is not all about entertainment; if that were the case God would have sent us an entertainer and not a Savior in Jesus Christ. Christ died to free us from sin and free us from ourselves. We worship and praise and thank Him each day by living life and stacking the blocks of life on the foundation of love and grace and faith that Christ laid for us through His death and resurrection.
So happy gaming friends, and remember that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
