I am so thankful to start another new year knowing the truth, having forgiveness and living for Him with my whole heart. I can't imagine living in this crazy world without Him! So, all of that got me thinking, why in the world would you NOT want the blessings of God in your life?? Isn't that silly to think about? It made me remember an article I read a while back. After searching for it and finding it, I reread it and found it just as fitting and thought provoking as the first time I stumbled upon it.
The article begins by talking about the author's love of sports. I'm not even sure why I kept reading, because I do not have a love of sports! However, I read on and truly enjoyed the analogy. The point of the article is that we shouldn't give more enthusiasm to anything than we give to God. And so many times, we make excuses when it comes to God and church and commitment to either - so much so that we remove the blessings waiting for us on the other side- and we wouldn't consider making those same excuses for other things! Here is an excerpt of the article:
"I've often wondered what would happen if people were as intense and committed and determined about church as they are about sports—or any number of other pastimes. This was reinforced some years back in a Moody Monthly piece that illustrated twelve excuses a fella might use for "quitting sports." The analogy isn't hard to figure out.
Every time I went, they asked me for money.
The people with whom I had to sit didn't seem very friendly.
The seats were too hard and not comfortable.
The coach never came to call on me.
The referee made a decision with which I could not agree.
I was sitting with some hypocrites—they came only to see what others were wearing.
Some games went into overtime, and I was late getting home.
The band played numbers that I had never heard before.
The games are scheduled when I want to do other things.
My parents took me to too many games when I was growing up.
Since I read a book on sports, I feel that I know more than the coaches anyhow.
I don't want to take my children, because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best.
I've come up with a few more:
The parking lot was awful . . . I had to walk six blocks to the stadium.
Nobody came up and introduced himself to me . . . very impersonal, also loud!
The public address and lighting systems don't suit me.
It's always too hot (or cold) in the stadium.
Enough said. Think it over."
What if 2011 was the year of no excuses? What would God do for us if we were willing to worship Him and serve Him with the same enthusiasm we gave to our hobbies? I for one am willing to stand on His promises and find out. Who wants to come along on the journey?
0 comments:
Post a Comment