Many years ago, I played poker pretty regularly. I remember one time we had a poker tournament at my house for a friends birthday. It was real high stakes, like $10 buy-in.
We played poker for hours until it was down to just two people: me and another guy we called ‘the Bean Farmer’. Heads up can take a long time as each player is waiting for just the right cards. And then it came. I was dealt a big pair of twos. I decided I would play them because I was getting tired.

The flop came (the first three cards) and there was an ace showing. The Bean Farmer started betting big. I knew he had an ace in his hand (that gave him a pair of aces) and would easily beet my pair of twos, but I called anyway. The turn was no help and the Bean Farmer bet big again. I called. The river came and it was a two! I now had three twos and he only had a pair of aces. I was sure to win.
I’ve seen many people in my circumstance. They know they have the best hand (three twos), but they just can’t let go of the little possibilities—what if the other guy has three of a kind too? Won’t his beat mine? What if I’m missing something?
Doubters will surely only bet a little on the next hand. That means they will only win a little and in the end, they will almost always lose everything.
Not me, though. I went all in. I knew I had the best cards and I bet everything I had on it. I play to win.
Many of us—yes even youth workers—live our Christian lives like the apprehensive, doubting poker players. We just aren’t willing to give Jesus everything we have. I’m preparing to teach on Wednesday night out of Ecclesiastes 5. You can download my notes if you want.
Like any good passage, it should preach to you before you preach it to your youth group. I read this:
When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?
Ecclesiastes 5.4-6
Haven’t we all made a vow to God? Haven’t we committed ourselves to sound doctrine and vowed to serve God with all our lives? Haven’t we said, ‘Lord, where you lead, there will I go’? Yet so often we fall out of zealousness. We become complacent in our ministries. We do the minimum required of us.
As I read the passage, I felt as if God were saying:
You vowed to serve me with everything you have. Do not delay in paying what you have vowed, for I have no pleasure in such foolishness. It would have been better that you never vowed to go into ministry, than that you drag your feet and push against my calling for you. Don’t make excuses for your behavior. Why should I have to destroy all that I have done in you, to sanctify you for my good works?
You have been called, Christian, into the service of the Almighty. Do not delay in completing your vow. You have one foot in the world. You work to your own gain and not to the gain of Christ. Repent, that God would not destroy the work He began in you.
It has become clear to me that there is ministry to be done everywhere. Too many of Christ’s servants are holding back—they have been dealt a winning hand in Christ Jesus, yet they are apprehensive; they doubt God’s perseverance.
Jonah realized that “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs” (Jonah 2.8). Will you cling to the worthless idols of the world? I entreat you, pay what you have vowed, lest your work be destroyed and the grace that God desired for you be forfeit.
My prayer is that as God’s word so challenged you today, that our youth ministries would be reformed as you recommit yourself to the work of Christ in your churches and communities.






Anthony Delgado has a wonderful wife and three children. Anthony directs Youth Ministry at
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Basic Hermeneutics for Youth Workers, written by Anthony Delgado, provides the basic Bible study tools necessary for most youth workers, in a single compact, easy to understand volume. This book will aid busy youth workers in their orthodox understanding of God's word.
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