Pass or Bid

I have a dear friend from college who taught me to play Rook back in 1971.  Since then, my wife and I have had some good Rook partners.  We learned years ago to always play men against women.  That way, regardless of who won, at least ½ of the couple went home a winner. (Although ½ of the couple went home a loser too.)  When you play Rook, you get the opportunity to bid on the five-card nest in the middle.  If you are the top bidder, you get the nest and you get to pick which color is trump (Not the Donald type.)  The bidding starts at 90 (180 possible points) and proceeds until three players pass and one is left with the highest bid.  But if you don’t capture as many points as you bid, you lose that hand and you lose the points that you bid.  So there is always a risk involved.  I am always looking for that “great hand”, which seldom materializes.  I just have to screw up my courage and bid with the hand that I have been dealt.  Hey, that’s the way it is with life.  In decisions that you make, you can either “pass” or “bid”.  If you keep bidding, you are taking a risk, but life is worth the risk.  To “pass” all the time is first boring and secondly unproductive.  To keep bidding is risky, but exciting.  Hey, the apostle Paul took risks.  He bet his eternal life on Jesus Christ.  Paul said in Philippians 3:13&14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  Paul was single minded.  Paul was focused.  Paul took risks … for God.  Hey, take a chance … on God.  Don’t play it safe; don’t pass; risk it all on the dear Lord.  You’ll never be sorry that you did.