The 65th Commandment

When you've found the best move there is, look for a better one.

I was given this list of chess "commandments" while on the high school chess team. I remember such things as "knights on the rim are grim" and no doubled pawns. Don't bring your queen out too early. Things like that.

Somebody had sribbled a 65th commandment on the bottom of the photocopied sheet I had. "Always look for a better move." You know what, it helped out.

Pastor Joe was talking about that today in church. Looking for a better way to love. I love my wife and children. How do I show them my love? Can a find a better way? Probably. God did.

Our Father put us in the Garden. Then, promised a way back to paradise. He gave us rules, laws, proverbs, examples. Finally, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, so we could see what He was like. Then sacrificed Jesus so our debts could be met, paid for in full. Jesus died for us.

Dave Roever lay at the bottom of a river in Viet Nam, dying because a phosphorus grenade blew up in his face. He remembered the verse "to die is gain." Although dying hurt, death held no fear for him. Death is only a door to new life. He was ready to embrace Eternity.

But God interceded, reminding Dave of the first part of this verse. "To live is Christ." Dying would have been the easy way out. Life was much harder. Life is much harder.

Life always is harder. Maybe that is why suicide is called the easy way out. Ask any man, and he will tell you he is willing to die for his family. Moving bus? No problem, I'll jump in front of it. Armed burglar? Just my underwear and the light switch, maybe a baseball bat.

But don't ask me to fold the clothes, or wash dishes. And certainly don't ask me to watch the kids for the evening, or get up at 4 in the morning to get a glass of water. That is just too much.

I though I only had to go the extra mile for strangers and enemies, not family. And how do I show love for them in this way?

I need to remember the 65th Commandment. Especially as it relates to my family.