Skin in the Game

C.S. Lewis once said that he had been told by Bridge players that there had to be at least a small prize when playing the card game, otherwise nobody would take it seriously.  This is often described as having “skin in the game” and implies having put something you value or some part of yourself into an endeavor raising the stakes for whatever “the game” is meant to stand for.  More interestingly to me, I found this quote in A Greif Observed, the published portion of Lewis’ personal journal that he kept after losing his wife to cancer.  Loss of loved ones is inherently heightened because of how much we have ourselves invested in our relationships.

I was thinking about this when preparing for this coming Sunday, Good Shepherd Sunday.  In the first couple of verses from this Sunday’s gospel passage Jesus says “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  This description of himself points the complete and amazing truth that God has quite literally chosen to have “skin in the game.”  When God came down at Christmas and became one of us, he invested Himself in our lives and our life eternal.  God not only became flesh, but as Jesus declares, he came to be our good shepherd, an act that inherently meant investing everything God is for our sake.  As if creating us out of His love wasn’t enough, God then gives Himself to completely and finally win our relationship with Him.

Friends, this Good News is that God is so inherently connected to us that he will never let go of us. God put his own skin in the game and has shown the completeness of His divine love for us. These are high stakes indeed, but God has made sure that his love for us always wins. 

We love you and God loves you. 

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