Are You Like “The Flying Tomato”?

The Winter X Games are finally here!  I always look forward to watching these games, and especially the snowboarding.  One of my favorite athletes is Shaun White, aka The Flying Tomato.  As I was watching last night, one of the announcers was talking about a couple of the other participants and their goals at the X Games this year.  They only had one goal; and it wasn’t to take home a medal.  It was to beat Shaun White.  No snowboarder that is at the games this year has ever beaten him.  He’s that good.  No matter what, he wins.  He’s a beast out on the coarse.  He could be behind, and come back and thrown down a run that blows your mind.  He’s determined, he’s confident, he goes all out, and best of all, he wins.  He goes into the competition a competitor like anyone else, but the difference is, he knows he’s going to win. 

It is the same way with the Christian life.  As Christians, we must be determined to make everything in this life count.  Go all out for God.  We shouldn’t be holding anything back.  We already know the outcome.  We know that in the end that we win.  In 2 Timothy 4:7 it says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” This should be the goal of every Christian.  Keep going all out, and going strong for the Lord until the end.  So that in the end, you will know in your heart that you have thrown down a gold medal run for the Lord.   Is your life a life that is being lived all out for God? 

Are You Accident-Prone?

When I was a kid I was definitely accident-prone.  I don’t know how it happened, but it did.  Unlike most people I would trip going up the stairs.  I broke a finger playing football, popped a blood vessel in another one at the batting cages, broke another finger playing floor hockey, sprained my ankle jumping off a swing, tore a ligament in my thumb playing basketball, got stitches in my eyebrow, and the list could continue.  By now you can see that I have had many injuries.  They should have kept my file handy at the ER as I liked to visit them quite often.    

It’s so relieving to know that there are no accidents with God.  He didn’t accidentally do something and the world was created.  He didn’t say, “now that the world is created, let’s see what happens now”.  Nothing that happens is apart from His control.  Let me say that again, nothing that happens is (an accident) apart from His control.  He knows exactly what is going to happen, when it’s going to happen, and how it is going to happen.  He knows everything.  It is such a comfort to rest all of my trust, hope, and confidence in a God who knows everything about my life.  

In Jeremiah 29:11 it says, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Not only does He know exactly what the plans are for you, but His plans are for good for you.  He wants the very best for His children.  Most Christians know and understand that God has a plan for their lives, but don’t know where to go from there.  One of the main questions that I have heard is, what should I do?  One of my favorite verses answers that question.  In Micah 6:8 it says, He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.   The best way that we can carry this out is through Mark 12:30, And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 

There are no accidents with God.  He knows the plans that He has for us, He wants the very best for us, and all we have to do is to walk with God, and to love Him with everything that we have.  Are you walking with God today?  Do you love God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, and all your strength?  Do you want to see God’s amazing work in your life?  Then, love Him wholly and completely.  

To Quit is To Lose

On Sunday the Bears lost the NFC Championship game to the Green Bay Packers.  After any Bears loss to the Packers I’m upset, but especially this game.  It isn’t so much the fact that we lost, but the fact that our quarterback, Jay Cutler, quit on his team.  Plain and simple; he gave up.  He stopped trying.  He mentally removed himself from the game.  And because of that we lost. 

Thinking (and fuming) about the game reminded me that I’m so much like Jay Cutler.  I’m in the game of job hunting.  I went for an interview a few days ago for a job that I really want, and I haven’t heard back yet.  I’ve given up.  She hasn’t called my references, no email, no phone call, no contact.  I’ve lost hope with this job and given up. 

It’s a good thing that God doesn’t work like that.  He never gives up.  I’m reminded of that in Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.  The key is to trust the Lord with all your heart.  These have always been favorite verses of mine, and I have often claimed them as my life verses.  I’ve read them, claimed them, but now I have had to walk through them.  It’s easy to read and to claim verses, but it’s the walking through, the never quitting that makes these verses so pivotal to my walk with the Lord.  It's saying, I trust you Lord, no matter what, even, and here's the key, even, when I can't see the outcome.  When we trust in Him and in His ways with all our hearts, He will always come through no matter what.  We will always win.  He might take us down a different route or path than we had planned, but we will always win the game.  Are you trusting in the Lord today or are you quitting on Him when the game gets tough?   

It Matters What People Think

When I hear the names Michael Jordan, Mia Hamm or even Ernie Banks I think of top players in their professions.  They were all all-time greats.  They wanted, they sought, and they accomplished.  These three sports figures were at the top of their game when they played, and will be known for years to come. 

Now when I hear the name OJ Simpson, I don’t even think of football.  The first three words that come to mind are liar, cheater, and murderer.  He destroyed his life through one simple action that will be etched in memories forever.   It was that one action that destroyed his reputation for the rest of his life. 

It matters what people think about you.  It matters what people think about me.  Your life is guided by your actions, and that is what will be remembered about you.  If you call yourself a Christian, your actions must be guided by your relationship with the Lord.  I’m reminded of that in Genesis when King Melchizedek met Abram after Abram had defeated his enemies.  In Genesis 14:19-20 it says, And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand! Abram was blessed by Melchizedek because he saw that his life was being blessed by God.  This comes from a life that seeks to please God in all that he does.   How are you doing in this area today?  Do people look at you and at your actions and know that you are a follower of Jesus?  Let your reputation be one that is known as a follower of God!