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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for October 14, 2010
“Elisha Carter Gives Up Checkers”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Elisha Carter loved to play checkers.
This was before video games or even video tapes, so checkers was high on the list of fun things.
In the evenings, Elisha and his brothers would eat, then sit down to a rousing tournament of checkers.
One morning Elisha came to the breakfast table and informed his brothers that he could not play checkers anymore. They said, “Why in the world…what’s wrong with checkers?”
Now let’s stop the story right here. What is wrong with checkers?
Of course nothing is inherently wrong with checkers. Nothing is inherently wrong with most of the games we play. They are just pastimes for passing the time, for relaxation, for giving our minds a break from weightier matters.
There is nothing wrong with games as long as they stay in their proper place; but for some people, games have a way of creeping up the ladder of importance.
Have you ever met someone who was consumed with games? Have you ever met a video game addict? I read about a mother one time who was charged with child neglect because she was so hooked on some online video game that she forgot about her child.
I enjoyed video games when I was younger, but I knew guys who would hang blankets on their windows to keep the sunshine out so they could stay in all day and play video games. They were obsessed with “getting to the next level” and “beating the game.”
You might think that’s the nature of today’s complex video games, but actually it’s just human nature, for some people more than others. Some people are obsessed with mastering games.
Well that was Elisha and the game of checkers. He loved the game and looked forward to playing each night with his brothers. And then came the day when he told them he wasn’t going to play anymore. They questioned him about it and here’s what he said.
“You know, every night as I go to bed, I spend that time focusing my whole mind and heart on Christ. I talk to Him. I go through the things of the day and I think about the next day. It’s a very special time with Him. And I vowed years ago that I would never let anything come between me and my relationship with Jesus Christ. And last night when I went to bed all I could think about was the moves I could have made on a checkerboard.”*
And Elisha Carter never played checkers again.
That story is told by Bill Elliff, Elisha’s great grandson, who is the founding pastor of The Summit Church of Little Rock, Arkansas. And Pastor Elliff says his great grandfather passed down a great legacy of faith that still resonates in the family today.
Now I would guess that the game of checkers is probably not your problem, but it leads us to ask this important question. What is coming between us and God?
I was talking to a young pastor the other day and he said that he was spending his time working for the Lord, and not much time with the Lord.
There are so many distractions these days. You could have a thousand TV channels to watch, and the internet could hog your time from now until doomsday.
But we must make time to be quiet before the Lord, to talk to Him and listen for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. We must make time to pray and to read the Bible. It’s one-on-one time with the Almighty, and it’s a key to spiritual growth and maturity.
This is something I’ve been blessed to have throughout my Christian life, and it has taken different forms over the years. I often went to the church alone to pray. I’ve taken prayer walks in the country. I’ve circled my yard in the predawn hours. Thousands of times I have sat down alone with God, with a Bible in front of me and said, “God, I am drawing near to You.” I’ve fallen asleep a thousand times at night while praying, and that is a really sweet and peaceful way to go to sleep, by the way.
But I can relate to Elisha Carter. I know what it’s like to have other things come crowding in. I’ve had momentary obsessions sweep in and try to replace my time with the Lord, and you probably have, too.
And maybe you are in that place right now. Maybe there is your own version of checkers that is crowding out your relationship with God. Or like the young pastor, it could even be your own work for God that is getting in the way of your time with God.
“I want to know Christ,” Paul wrote in Philippians chapter three. “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
So don’t let anything get in the way of getting to know the Lord better.
In the end, you don’t want to be known as a man who loved games.
You want to be known like Elisha Carter, as a man who truly loved the Lord Jesus Christ.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
That story is told by his great grandson Bill Elliff, pastor of The Summit Church near Little Rock, Arkansas. It was shared on Family Life Today: http://www.familylife.com/site/c.dnJHKLNnFoG/b.6235823/k.809F/FamilyLife_Today.htm?utm_source=radio&utm_medium=radio&utm_campaign=flt
© 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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