Cashing in Your Options

If you received a phone call or a letter today, telling you that you had won $5 million dollars, most of us would choose one of two courses of action, or possibly a combination of the two. This is, of course, for 99.9% of guys, after quitting your job.

Option 1—Play.

Vacations, sightseeing, hobbies, sports. Fun becomes the #1 life goal. When someone says, “So, what do you do for a living?” your answer is, “Well, I play hard and a lot!”

Option 2—Purchase.

Homes, cars, electronics, gadgets, boat, bike, man toys. A spending spree would ensue and go on for quite a long time. Getting all the things you’ve ever wanted or dreamed of.

Option 3—This is the combo: Purchase, play, purchase, play, purchase. Buy fun stuff, have fun, repeat. Makes sense.

But let me introduce Option 4. . . . Passion.

As a Christian man, God’s put a burning desire in your heart to create, pursue, and live out a dream. Something that He pours into your heart and it comes out through your hands, feet, brain, and total being. The $5 million for a handful of men would be an open invitation to pursue a passion. The money buys the opportunity, the freedom, the chance to pour out God’s passion through you on humanity.

Two interesting and ironic thoughts to close . . . First, playing on the celebrity level does take a lot of cash. Purchasing on the celebrity level definitely takes an enormous amount of cash. But, creating, pursuing, and launching your passion can be done without a million dollars, especially when it is God Who has placed, planned, and poured it in. And second, waiting on a million dollars to come in may take a while, but acknowledging and acting on your passion isn’t waiting on a check, just you.

Men—let’s engage Option 4 while we still have the life and breath in us to live it out.

[Jesus] said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.” —Luke 10:27 MSG