Risk

The *At-Risk Asterisk

/ insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

AsteriskSometime during the day, I usually stop by McDonald’s and grab a cup of coffee.  When I made my caffeine pit stop yesterday, a sign caught my attention.  It was promoting McDonald’s 2016 version of the Monopoly game.  At the bottom of the sign a red circle was emblazoned with the words, 1 in 4 Win*.

I’ve learned that a person can be at-risk, if he doesn’t pay attention to an asterisk.  After a quick search about the significance of the 1 in 4 Win asterisk and the odds of actually winning, I discovered the following:

  • The odds of getting the exact combination to win the $1 Million prize is 1 in 513,591,720.
  • The odds of winning one of the instant cash prizes is 1 in 45,000.
  • The best odds of winning are associated with the food prizes, and they equate with the advertised 1 in 4 Win*.

An asterisk offers essential data about information that has been changed, is missing, or has been updated.  It’s a coach that guides you through the mental gymnastics of comprehension.

When I think of the asterisk in this context, it reminds me of the work of the Holy Spirit who will offer an at-risk warning.  The ministry of the Spirit is multifaceted, and he empowers, guides, and convicts of sin.

Jesus said the coming of Spirit would be a great benefit to His disciples:

The truth is that My departure will be a gift that will serve you well, because if I don’t leave, the great Helper will not come to your aid. When I leave, I will send Him to you. When He arrives, He will uncover the sins of the world, expose unbelief as sin, and allow all to see their sins in the light of righteousness for the first time.  This new awareness of righteousness is important because I am going to the Father and will no longer be present with you.  ~John 16:7-11, The Voice

Whenever you feel an impression to take some action or you hear a small voice within you, it might be the whisper of the Spirit attempting to give you a new awareness of righteousness.

Paul contrasted the new awareness with the old nature in Romans 8, and I think I’ll use it as an * to share some essential information with you concerning the transforming power of God’s Spirit:

Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. ~Roman 8:5-8, The Message

The Hazards of Life

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Hazard is one of those words that we use frequently, but never pause to think of its source.  We know that its noun form means danger, and in its verb form it means to risk or expose to danger.  I’ve heard the word hazard used in many instances to describe different situations and to issue a warning, such as:

  • Hazardous Duty Pay
  • Road Hazard Ahead
  • Care to hazard a guess?
  • Hazardous to your health

Then of course there were those Dukes of Hazard, but that was the county and not a particular situation.  Their behavior was, however, rather hazardous at times.

The word hazard has an interesting origin.  It is a form of the Arabic al zahr, and it means the dice. The history of the word goes back to the times of the Crusades in the Holy Lands.

The Crusaders became acquainted with a number of games that used dice. Early on, hazard was associated with the idea of danger because the dice were associated with the risky business of gambling and the con artists who used corrupted or loaded dice.

As we endeavor to live our lives, the journey requires us to negotiate a path through a myriad of hazards.  Charting this course requires more than just a casual roll of the dice.

Paul cautioned the Colossians and warned them that the world system is playing with loaded dice:  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

In one of the Winnie the Pooh stories, Tigger experiences an identity hazard because his stripes are washed off while bathing.  Tiggers are recognized by their stripes and without his, Tigger isn’t sure who he is, so he  tries being a rabbit, a bear, and a Christmas tree.   This dilemma is resolved when Eeyore tells Tigger that he is always the same person on the inside.

To keep our stripes and maintain our integrity, we need to throw the dice away and heed the words of Solomon:  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3).

Here’s a thought to keep you thinking:  What’s the hidden price of rolling the dice?