The Lord worked in my heart this morning...let me try and capture what He said:
Many times, we've described our Christian Walk as being similar to a football
game. Some of the similarities are more obvious than others, but I believe that
we "relate" to things better when we can "relate" to things! So here it goes:
If we were training to play football, what would we do? Well, on a daily basis,
we would exercise, lift weights, study plays, converse with others on our team,
talk (and listen) to the coach. Also, on a regular basis, we would practice
those plays that we learned. We may even go to a pep rally to get us fired up
about the coming game!
In a similar way, there are things that we need to do to be a Christian warrior.
We couldn't expect to just start playing football out of shape, not knowing any
of the plays, and not knowing what the coach expected out of us, right?
On a daily basis, we need to exercise...only, in this case, we need to exercise
our mind, our body, and our spirit. We need to spend time studying the play
book - the Bible. We need to spend time talking and listening to the coach -
God! (or the “Ancient of Days” from last nights discussion!)
At least once a week, we need to sit down with the rest of "the Team" (other
Christians) and make sure that the team is moving together in the same
direction. We need to honor the Coach and show him respect by listening to his
marching orders! We may even sing some fight songs to get each other excited
about the game!
During the week, we need to have "practice" in small groups to hone the skills
that we are learning together. We may have to build each other up, hold each
other accountable, and help point each other to the play book! We may even have
square offs or one-on-one sparring to really strengthen our skills (as iron
sharpens iron!)
Periodically, we may use other resources - related reference books, or related
news or media programs to help us get fired up. But we do have to be careful
and discern which media leaks are good for our team, and which are tricks by the
other team to get us off track or off focus.
I could go on and on about the similarities, but I think you probably get the
point by now!
But, here is the big difference. In football, we would do all of the
preparation, the training, the reading, the practice, all of it...for one game a
week.
In our Christian Walk, our "game" happens every single day! Our playing field
is the world, and our opponent is out there to destroy us all day, every day.
He's after our team mates, and he's already recruiting those younger ones who
aren't even in the game yet!
So, if we are going to be on God's "team", how can we expect to do a good job
for Him, if we aren't exercising, practicing, attending pep rallies, studying
the playbook, and on and on? Is that really realistic? Because remember, we
don't have just one game to play on Sunday, we have 7 games to play each week,
and they last all day long!!!
God bless you all for your spiritual walk, and your commitment to being prepared
for the Big Game!
YBIC,
~Dan