Get in the Game

November 2020

Football season has just started and I have met some people that really love the game. These people will come home and clear their evenings so they can watch football and or plan parties involving football. Some people come together to watch the game or they just watch it on their own, but nonetheless, they love the football season. They love to root for the team and to tell that referee exactly what he’s doing wrong. When it’s all over, they like to go talk about it with their friends and jest with opposing teams’ fans.

On the other hand, I’ve met some people that are very passionate about football  and these people are usually the players. They invest a lot of time and energy into their passion. They get up early to work out, go to the field, and they practice, practice, practice. Everything they do is about the game! They eat, sleep and drink the game.

Playing football is a lot like Christianity. It is not a spectator sport and we are supposed to be involved. We should not be content with sitting and watching, but rather playing the game. I’ve noticed a few times, as my husband sits in his recliner watching football, he will tend to fall asleep. I am not putting him down for falling asleep. He works hard and had a long day at work and I’m sure that the recliner feels really good, as I am sure a lot of you can attest. Why I say this is because in Christianity, if we are not careful, we can drift to sleep. I like to use my husband’s favorite analogy: when we sit too long on a big, comfy couch, we start to get tired and fall asleep. Moving keeps you awake. In Christianity, we have to keep moving. We need to have intimate times with the Lord, set disciplines in place, and get in the game instead of just watching from the sidelines.

Just like how a football player disciplines themself to be the best athlete they can be, there are some disciplines that we need to put in place in order to maintain our relationship with Christ, to become more like Him, and to reach the lost. A few of those disciplines are: spending time with Jesus, reading the Word of God daily, repentance, acknowledging who you are in Christ, and consciously making an effort to lift up the broken. While all these disciplines are crucial to get in the game, I will talk about two.

“I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:27 (NLT)

Intimacy With Jesus

Intimacy with the Lord is by far one of my favorite disciplines. In all actuality, spending intimate time with Him is more like desert than a discipline. Sitting with Jesus is like my favorite cake with whipped topping. I’m not saying that it is not a challenge to find the time to be alone with Jesus or to keep from being interrupted, but you just have to be intentional about carving out a block of time. Creativity will be your best friend in being diligent about your alone time with Jesus, and if you are a big planner like me, you will have to schedule that time and guard it like your life depends on it. Because, if we’re being honest, it does. Spending time with Jesus propels you deeper into Him, the One whom you love. Spending intimate time with our Lord is one of the key ways we will get in the game and stay in. It is one of the biggest differences between being a spectator and being a player.

“For your kisses of love are exhilarating, more than any delight I’ve known before. Your kisses of love awaken even the lips of sleeping ones.” Song of Songs 7:9 (TPT)

Intimacy with Jesus is just like a runner’s high. Runners’ World said that when a runner’s high is achieved, it releases endorphins. These endorphins are like a sugar rush that keeps the runner going. Intimacy with Jesus is the same way. Spending time with Him is addictive! It keeps us going in the race of life and propels us to dive deeper into Him. Intimacy with Jesus is the fuel that keeps us in the game.

Spending alone time with Jesus is rejuvenating when we are weary and clears confusion. Like Moses and how he went into the Tent of Meetings to inquire of the Lord and meet with Him, so this same face-to-face meeting is available to us. Spending time with Jesus strikes that fire of passion that propels us even further into our destiny.

“It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.” Exodus 33:7 (NLT)

Prayer That Sparks Passion

It is good to be passionate in life; about our families, our hobbies, and our careers. However, it is important to make Jesus our first passion and to not be controlled by passions that do not have eternal value. Passion for Him is the driving force of every love sick believer.

If we desire to get in the game instead of watching from the sidelines, we have to have passion; passion for Jesus and what is on His heart. Passion is like a muscle, it will slowly lose its tone and die out when not used. So, one of the most important disciplines that we can have in our life is making time for prayer. Prayer is the way we communicate with God and kindle a passion for Him. In prayer, we get that same face-to-face time with God that Moses had that can explode in a million directions. Communication with God births relationship, trust, and delight in getting to know Him. Prayer coupled with spending intimate time with Jesus will create a strong relationship with Him and a passion to get in the game and stay in it like never before.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.” 2 Timothy 4:7 (NLT)

I encourage every believer, if you haven’t already, to get in the game. There is no more time to be a spectator, we must participate. It is time we become like a football player and discipline ourselves so that we can be effective in these last days. It is time to wake up, get off the comfy couch, and get in the game. I pray that God set us on fire like never before so that we can burn bright for Him.