Do you enjoy playing board games? Or how about card games? Our family has always enjoyed clearing the table and putting a good game in front of us. It’s been a go to of ours from the beginning. I remember the first board game we ever played with the boys when they were little but old enough to begin playing - Chutes and Ladders. That’s a terrible game! I used to get so upset when my five year old would win the game. I’m a competitive person and there is no rhyme or reason with Chutes and Ladders. It’s all about the luck of the spin. What kind of game is that?
So, we gradually made it to games where there is more skill and strategy involved. Games like Sorry, Battleship, and Monopoly. And card games like Skip-Bo, Phase 10, and Uno. I mean, even Go Fish is more competitive than Chutes and Ladders! I used to love winning at Monopoly by buying up all the properties, placing properties on them, and smirking when the boys landed on them. And who doesn’t love being able to yell out, “Uno!” and lay down that last remaining card.
When you think about it, there are really two types of games. There are those, like Monopoly, where the one who finishes with the most is the winner. And then there are those, like Uno, where the one who finishes with an empty hand, is the winner. Life is a lot like that too. Not the game of Life, but real life.
We tend to live life more like a game of Monopoly. It’s all about accumulating as much as we can. But the truth is, real life is more like a game of Uno. It’s not the one who finishes with the most toys wins but rather the one who finishes with an empty hand is the true victor. The one who dies with the most toys is, well, still dead. And you can’t take all of those toys with you!
The One I want to follow said it this way, "Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot” (Luke 12:15 – The Message).
How about you? Monopoly or Uno?
Ryan Smallwood
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