Sports

                              Now, for those of you who are not interested in playing or watching sports, I apologize if this post does not relate to you. But I have noticed something that I believe can be applied in some form or another, to people who watch or play sports. In America today a boatload of emphasis is placed on sports. This can be either in sports we watch or in sports that we play. For example, I am from Wisconsin so the Packers are a pretty big deal around here. If people can not go to the game, they plan a party or set aside 3 to 4 hours or so just to watch it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is bad or anything, as I do this to. It is wrong however, when we care more about how the Packers or our favorite sport team performs, then we care about our relationship with God. It's easy to have your mood effected just by if your favorite team wins or loses. In the long-term, does it really matter who wins the Super-Bowl this year? No. But there are 16 NFL regular season games. Lets just estimate and say that each game will last around 3 hours give or take. That means you could spend up to 48 hours just watching the Packers! That's 2 whole days gone. That doesn't even include play-offs!
                            A ton of people (myself included) play sports to. Again I'm not saying any of this is bad. But as I have been around sports the majority of my life, and I have seen far to many people place way to much emphasis on sports. Whether it's parents or players. Think about it this way. As player, or at least the dedicated ones, we spend hours preparing for the sport that we play. We spend time working out so that come game time, we can demolish our opponent. Imagine if as players, we would spend just as much effort making sure that our relationship with God is where it needs to be.
                           We have to be prepared for the game of life. We have to work out our spiritual lives, we can do this by reading the Bible, praying etc. We can not just practice all the time though. After all, in a sporting event who really just wants to sit on the sidelines? No one. We should want to get out into the world and tell people about Jesus. My Bible teacher this past school year did an excellent job of really showing how as Christians, we are all called to witness to people. So as far as sports go, use the sport you play as a tool. A tool to show how God is first in your life. Make sure that you have your priorities in check when it come to watching sports. Shine for Jesus. Then work out your spiritual self, and then go out and use it.
God Bless,
David