Skin in the Game

As I become older and more traveled, I notice things.  I’m finding that some of the phrases I grew up with are foreign to folks in other parts of the country.  Where I’m from, we have a phrase that describes having a personal investment in the outcome of a situation or undertaking.  We say you have “skin in the game.”  I have no idea whether this phrase is used in other parts of the country or elsewhere.  (We do like to be colorful with our language down here in the South.)

Did your parents ever make you work for something you wanted?  Maybe they made you work, even though you knew they could have probably given it to you just as easily.  They knew that human nature says we VALUE things more when we WORK for them.  We hold things dearer when we have something precious invested – like our time and effort.

Have you ever been on the cusp of seeing the fulfillment of a promise from God, and then realized that your participation is required?  That God expects you to have some “skin in the game?”  That’s where the Israelites found themselves in the beginning of the book of Joshua.  The 40 year wait to enter the Promised Land of Canaan was over.  Moses was dead.  And there they were.

God had parted the Red Sea for their parents, but that generation was gone (with the exception of Caleb and Joshua).  The current generation had either been born in the desert or had been young when they came through the Red Sea on dry land to escape Egypt and Pharoah.

God was about to require them to participate in the taking of the Promised Land. And He knew that they were going to need some encouragement. That’s why God parted the waters of the Jordan River for them.  Mind you, it was in flood stage, but the Word says that the water “piled up in a heap,” and they crossed over the waters, once again, on dry land.

How good is God, y’all?  He performs these miracles for his children simply because they have need of it.  When children have a true need, what parent doesn’t do their dead-level best to fill it?  The Word says (Matthew 7: 9-11) if you do that for your children, how much more does God do for us?  He gives his children GOOD GIFTS (vs 11).

A good parent realizes that a kid needs to have “skin in the game” to really value the outcome.  God knows the same is true for His children.

There were 7 different people groups living in Canaan when the Israelites crossed over the Jordan.  Seven, y’all.  And God was requiring Israel to drive them out of the land.  He said He would be with them – but they still had to work for it.  He was giving Israel an opportunity to grow.  Could God have driven the current inhabitants out all by himself?  Of course!  He’s God, after all.  But He knew that if He required His children to be part of the conquest, they would value the land He’d given them that much more.  He knew that to POSSESS the land the way He wanted them to, they needed skin in the game.

The same is true for us.  Think of the dreams and promises God has given to you.

God IS wisdom and kindness and mercy.  He knows that sometimes in order to for us to really value the promises He gives us, we need to participate in its fulfillment.  Have you ever heard the expression “Don’t lean on the shovel and pray for a hole?”  Are waiting for the fulfillment of a promise God has given you?  Ask Him how he wants you to partner with Him.  Don’t be afraid to get some skin in the game, y’all!

Please feel free to share our posts and our blog site and leave comments below! We are so glad you are here!