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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for September 22, 2010
“What Is Your End Game?”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
What is your end game?
Have you ever heard that before?
The “end game” is simply the final stages of something.
For example, in the game of chess, the end game comes when most of the pieces are off the board.
A good chess player has planned for this moment. He was mapping it out from the beginning, thinking several moves ahead. He knew where he wanted to go and had a plan to get there.
I am not a good chess player. I don’t have an end game. I pretty much just take each move as it comes without pondering what the next five moves hold.
And guess what? If I play someone with a good end game, I lose.
Yeah, I win sometimes, but winning is unlikely without an end game.
This is true in all of life. If you don’t have an end game, you are likely to lose.
If you are a parent, what is your end game for raising your children? I have a three-point end game for my parenting. I want my children to 1) have their own personal relationship with God, 2) be self-sufficient, autonomous citizens, and 3) become contributing members of society.
When you know the end game, it helps you make decisions.
I was talking to an education official about the new class size rules in Florida. I said, “What’s the end game?”
He said, “Fewer students in the classroom.”
I said, “That’s not the end game. The end game is better educated students.”
My daughter was dropped from a high school honors class because more students signed up than the new class size requirements allowed. Several students ended up taking “lesser” classes. Did that meet the goal of better educated students?
Not in this case. You can jam a classroom full of honors students and they are still going to soak up the information. To me, this is a case of losing sight of the end game, which is better educated students, not smaller class sizes.
Husband, if you are flirting with someone at the office, what is your end game? Is it to get her attention? If you get her attention, then what? Will you quit, or will you want more attention? Do you want to end up in the sack? Do you want everyone to know? Do you want to lose your family? Do you want to be humiliated? What is your end game? You need to think it through before you end up with something you don’t want.
Bill Clinton would have had a different presidency if he would have thought about the end game. Did he picture an impeachment? Did he imagine a humiliating public confession of indiscretion? I doubt he gave much thought to the end game when it came to “that woman.”
I guess he got caught up in the moment, and that often leads to trouble. We think only of this moment and the fun we can have, and turn a blind eye to the end game. We don’t ask, “Where will I be when the fun is over?”
But time always goes by, and there will always be an end game, and then what? Will your chess pieces be aligned for victory or defeat?
When it comes to sin, James 1:15 spells out the end game. It says “…when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
I was recently asked to lead a committee and I said yes, on one condition. I want a clear end game. I want to know the final destination so I can point us in the right direction and know where we are headed. I don’t like vague or indecipherable end games.
Last weekend I spent a lot of time working on my daughter’s vehicle. Someone said, “Why are you investing so much time in that old thing?” They didn’t know my end game. My investment was not in “that old thing.” My investment was in my daughter, so she could drive something better.
First Corinthians 3 describes the ultimate end game. It says the work of a man’s life will be brought to light one day, and its quality will be tested by fire. If what he did survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
That’s the end game we must all prepare for. We work now with that day in mind. We must live in such a way that the quality of our work survives the test.
So what are you planning today? What are you working on?
Don’t just blindly move your chess pieces around, thinking only one move at a time. Instead, ponder where you’re going. Think about your goals.
Think about your end game.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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