Know when to fold 'em.

There comes a moment in all of our lives where we are either all in....or out.

That moment when we lay all of our cards on the table. One by one...face up...as if to say with each shame...with each sin...with both hands in the air...pushed back from the table...fully surrendered...Lord, I fold!

And I don't mean as a bluff. Or to wait for the next hand to try to win big...to recoup your losses. Not because the pot is small...or the ante too big. But because the game is over. Because the addiction to self is killing you...and you know it.

Kenny Rogers sings in The Gambler......

If you're gonna play the game, boy
You gotta learn to play it right

You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin's done

Every gambler knows
That the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away
And knowin' what to keep
'Cause every hand's a winner
And every hand's a loser
And the best that you can hope for is to die
in your sleep....

Now. We may not all be gamblers...but we all are sinners. So I know we can all relate. And there has to come a point where we learn to "play" it right. And not just 99% of the time. Because that 1%...can kill us....

The woman with the alabaster box knew when to go all in...she knew when to fold. She didn't care about the pot or the other players. She gave it all up...laid it all out there...and she won it all in the end!
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A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.

As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.  

"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:37-38, 47, 50