Get in the Game

 

 

If you play sports, or have in the past, you know that before a game/match/race it is critically important that you get focused. Many times athletes listen to music to get "pumped up" or "in the zone". If you have other things on your mind distracting you, your performance most likely will suffer. As Christians, many of us are often distracted by the things of this world. We often just live a lazy Christian life and don't spend time talking with God or reading His word. Just like your coach would hate it if you spent little time practicing your sport, preparing for your game, or even worse, went into the game and gave minimal effort, God also hates it. In the book of Revelations God speaks of His disgust for lukewarm living. Rev. 3:15-16 says, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth".

Even if you do not enjoy the rap music style, the song "Go Hard" has some powerful lyrics. Part of the first verse goes, "If you didn't know em would ya life look the same, Can they tell you value Jesus by the way you rep His name? Man, whats the point of living if I'm living for myself, Lord empty out my life before I put you on a shelf. So for God I go Hard, I don't want to die to tonight, there's too many people living who ain't hear about my Christ. Go Hard or Go Home. Lord use me up." So what can you do to "get in the game"? Like anything that is worth it, it takes sacrifice. It might mean that you give up your favorite t.v. show to spend time in His word. It might that you don't sleep in Sunday morning but get up early and go to church to worship, learn, and fellowship. It might mean that you give up shopping for a new outfit so that you can give more money to your church or a mission. It might mean that you sacrifice vacation and money to go on a missions trip this summer. It might mean that you get out of your comfort zone and witness to a friend you know who needs the Lord. In the book Crazy Love (which I highly recommend), Francis Chan writes "We should not be trying to find as much pleasure as possible in this life, because we believe that the best is yet to come. What we do in this life matters, and our lives should reflect our belief about where history is headed". Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."