All In

And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”    —Luke 1:38

Many of us are familiar with the term “all in.” I only knew “all in” in reference to the Christian faith and Texas Hold’em poker I’ve seen on TV. I have only ever gambled once, and I crashed and burned. I was 15 years old and thought I had enough money to outlast a carnival worker at the Dayton Fair. The prize was to win double or nothing, but the cost to play (swing a ball on a chain over and back to knock down a lone bowling pin) also doubled each time.

In poker, “all in” occurs when you are usually low on funds, but think you have a really good hand and wish to scare off your opponents and take the pot. You go “all in” by betting all the money or chips that you have on the table. “All in” in this case is an attempt to get everything for yourself or go home.

To me, the Christian meaning of “all in” is that Jesus is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). The most important relationship in our lives must be our relationship to God in Jesus. I do not believe Jesus was telling us to hate our family or ourselves, but was using exaggeration to drive home the point that Jesus wants to be number one in our lives?

 

The Christmas passage in Luke’s Gospel records the Annunciation, the announcement by the Angel Gabriel telling Mary she would become the Mother of God’s Son. Mary’s concluding response describes her statement of faith and a complete surrender to the Will of God. “And Mary said, ‘Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word’” (Luke 1:38). Mary believed the angel’s message and went “all in” with God. She was risking everything she had and everything she would ever be. Mary was also placing in jeopardy her relationship and love for Joseph, to whom she was engaged.

Mary’s “all in” was not for her own benefit but for the benefit of others and the entire world; it was for you and for me. She was surrendering her plans and her life for the welfare and salvation of every other human being. Poker players play to win for themselves. Mary was giving her life away in order to find it again in Jesus Christ. Jesus also said as He faced the Cross, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).

What are you “all in” about? Your golf game? Shopping? Facebook? Working out? Fox News or CNN? Your family? Your car? Your job? When Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord,” she was denying her own good plans for her life and surrendering to God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will for her. One of my favorite “all in” passages is Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

If we are to experience God’s good and perfect will in our lives, we must surrender our selfish plans, go “all in,” and make Jesus Christ the boss of our life.