Gonna confess something. Jesus and I (I'd rather say me an' Jesus we had us a talk, but that's not proper English, and my momma don't take well to that from her oldest daughter.) had a discussion recently. I'm not sure if you can actually do that, but I feel like Jesus and I talk. I have a concern, he shows me where I'm missing things, I argue with him, he explains more to me...it's a blessed privilege of being his girl. And I love it.
Anyway, my confession is that I love sports and politics. I really, really do. I love how excited guys get when they sit and watch them, I love it when my favorite teams play, I love to listen and get stirred up about political jazz, I love the passion on my brother's face when he shares about standing against the injustice of our country, I love my other brother's passion for sports and wanting to be able to do it for Jesus, I love.... well, you get the point.
thing is, I'm always evaluating things in my life trying to determine if they're bringing God glory or not. And some folks make sports their god. Let's just face it. They'd sooner be watching sports than be with Jesus. That's what they talk about, live, breath, whatever. So I was like "Jesus, you know I like this stuff. So is it okay? I mean, is it okay to love this? I want to love you in everything I do, so show me if this isn't loving you." Then I let it be.
Next day we played a Church where I met a pastor who just EXUDED a love for the Lord. Real, genuine, honest to goodness Jesus lovin' guy. I knew because his face was radiant (Psalm 34:5). I got to talking to him afterward and he shared his testimony with me. Standard radical stuff... Grew up ROUGH. Shooting, drinking, bars, trying to kill himself, dealing drugs, fights, the whole nine yards. God wanted the man alive let me tell you from hearing the details. Well, he's a fan of physical sports. Seriously. It's how he expresses his love for the Lord. He has a gift, so he brought soccer back to Green County. Taught EVERY kid that wanted to learn how to play soccer. Each year. He takes his gifts to prison where he leads basketball teams of inmates and gets to share his testimony to a bunch of people he can RELATE to. He connects through his passion for good sports, and touches their lives with his love for the Lord through that. That's just scratching the surface.
It didn't hit me til later when God sort of tapped me on the shoulder and said "yeah, you can love me and love sports. There's nothing wrong with it as long as your heart's for me. I can use just about anything for my glory as long as you're willing. So love sports. Love supporting your brother when he plays. Love enjoying a good hearty game. Love talking about it. Love pulling out my character in the different aspects of sports. And pick it apart. I'm there if you look for me." I just smiled.
God's kinda cool. Just ask him and he'll make everything make sense. Or not. But he loves to listen to us ask him about things. And he loves to talk to us if we're listening back.
Lis
PS - LET'S GO CATS!!!!!!! SO PROUD OF THOSE BOYS!!!!!!!!
Yes, passion for sports can be transformed into
ReplyDeleteanything we intend. Competition can further
a spirits journey, or hold it [and others] back.
We choose. As we excell in anything we can evolve as humans and souls. The balance of mind,
body, emotions and Spirit. "Of what value is it
to gain the world and lose one's soul?" And so
we can view this all around us in sports, music,
business, politics etc.... Some compete with
integrity and understanding of this Balance and
some are still learning this lesson. It is all
around us to see and contemplate and so to hasten our evolution as Spirits. Always, Never
and Forever...................................