About a year ago I once again started playing Magic: The Gathering. I had played Magic when it first came out in 1993 but had given up my lands and creatures for Star Trek: The Customizable Card Game. I had no idea that Magic would still be relevant 20 years later and that it would make a sizeable dent in my wallet as man in my 30s.
This weekend the next set of Magic cards comes out: Fate Reforged. I have bought a box of the past three sets and would love to buy a box of Fate Reforged. I’ve spent extra money and birthday money on my Magic cards, but I don’t have any extra money or birthday money lying around. So even though I’d love to buy a box and open up 36 packs of cards, I probably shouldn’t.
This week at youth group I spoke about the parable of the rich fool. He had an abundant harvest and tore down his barns to build even bigger barns. He was ready to kick up his feet and relax for the rest of his life. But God got a little angry and the rich fool died.
Now I don’t have an abundant harvest, but I wouldn’t mind abundant decks of Magic cards and playing for a few days. And it’s not that playing Magic is bad, but I know that God wants more from me than just playing Magic.
God doesn’t like the rich fool’s selfishness, but I think he’s most upset with how the fool wasted his time. God had a plan for the fool, something that only the fool could accomplish in the world. Instead of embracing that purpose, the fool abandoned it for an easy life of eating, drinking and making merry.
And it may not be Magic and it may not be merry making, but we all probably have some distraction that pulls us away from God’s purpose for our lives. And it may not even be something big, but just some little distraction that eats up an hour or two of our days. I’m all for rest and distractions, but when we choose to let them into our lives, not when they just happen and pull us away from something more important.
So Magic’s not bad, but it definitely can distract me from more important matters. There’s nothing wrong with eating, drinking and being merry either, as long as they fit within the larger context of a life lived for God and his purposes.
What are some of your most pesky distractions?
The rich fool is no doubt one of the most relevant parables for geeks and nerds. There is no shortage of stuff we can acquire to indulge our fannish enthusiasms. Fortunately, I was able to break my monthly comic book habit last year (although the siren song of digital comics is still there…!).