All In...

If you've ever played Poker or watched it on TV, there comes a time when the poker player has managed his chips and the cards he was dealt as well as he could, but needs to go "All In." He pushes everything he has into the middle of the table and waits to see how the cards fall. There is no second guessing how much to bet. There is no sense that he can sit back and take it easy. It's one of the few times in the game when you will see a poker player show emotion. He's "All In," not just with his chips and cards, but his heart and soul, too.

That's what Jesus's invitation to Peter, Andrew, James and John is in this weekend's readings. He's calling them to be "All In." They do it. There's all kinds of debate about whether they knew Jesus before the moment of this calling, or if this was their first encounter. Frankly, that doesn't matter to me. Jesus called them, and they left EVERYTHING, their livelihoods, their families, EVERYTHING. They went "All In."

Reminds me of what Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God." (Luke 9: 62).

Jesus looks at us, square in the eyes this week, and asks us if we are "All In."

There is nothing worse than doing anything with a divided heart. Indecision, stress, and worry beseige us. Sometimes, when we "look to what was left behind," we experience guilt or shame. Jesus doesn't care what was left behind us. He is calling us to be "All In" kinds of people. That means ALL in. Even the stuff of which we might be ashamed or feel guilty, the mistakes and the sins of our past. We bring it all.

Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen. This was a rough job. It was hard work, and these four guys were salt of the earth kind of people. I imagine them out there cussing, drinking, laughing, telling crude jokes. Jesus didn't care. He called them to be all in. They brought all that with them.

Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen. This is what they did for their livelihood. It was what they were good at. It's what they knew, and probably all they knew, as the four of them were probably uneducated and illiterate. Jesus didn't care. He called them to be all in. They brought that with them, too. As a matter of fact, that was one of the conditions for following him. "Come with me," Jesus says, "and I will make you fishers of men." He didn't call them to leave it all behind, but to bring it with them so that he could use it. He told them to put it all in, and then let Him deal the cards.

Believe me, when Jesus is dealing your cards, they are stacked in your favor.

Bring what you know, what you do, who you are, Jesus says to us. When we put it all in, He can take all of those things, what we know, what we do, and who we are, and make them useful to His purpose. Transforming things is something at which Jesus excels. Whether it's water from a well, a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, bread and wine, or our lives, Jesus can change it into something extraordinary. But we have to go all in.

One of my favorite prayers is the morning offering, because it captures that idea of going all in:

Oh Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings

of this day for all intentions of Your Sacred Heart

in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

throughout the world,

in reparation for my sins,

for the intentions of all our associates,

and in particular for the intentions

of our Holy Father for this month.

 

Can you go all in for Jesus? He is calling you to give Him everything, your work, your family life, your past, present and future...EVERYTHING.

 

I will guarantee that if you make this bet, and let Jesus deal the cards, you won't lose. Do you dare to go all in?