GO! FIGHT! WIN!... Those are the words shouted and heard from football stadiums around the nation. I can't believe its already that time again. Whistles will blow, pads will pop, and coaches, daddies, mommas will all scream. Why? Is it the love for a game, is the excitement of a last minute, game winning drive? No matter how the scoreboard reads at the end of a football game, two kinds of people walk away. We call those people winners and losers. One teams hopes and dreams, blood and tears are lost, and the others found and accomplished in the eyes of all who watch. It's sad, and you'll see exactly why here...
If you didn't know, I try to be an athlete. For so long I'd put all of my hope and my dreams on a field with white lines and numbers. I'd score a touchdown here or there and my day, my game, and what I called my "life" would be made...for a while. I loved to see my dad proud and hear my mom saying, "Yep, that's my boy". It was my everything. Then there is the other side of the coin. The loss. When I fell, I fell hard. I'd walk to off the field slinging my helmet like a brat, pout all the way home, and eventually make everyone around me miserable. Win or lose on the field, it's just a win, or just a loss. It sounds pitiful or cowardly to some that I say this and still call myself a competitor, but winning is not everything.
After a while my body began to break, the wins got old, and the losses, well they got even older. I began to search for something else. Something to give me victory, something to give me satisfaction. Something to give me success. I had already tried sex, alcohol, drugs, and anything else, and like football, they amounted to nothing but a broken heart. As I searched for personal glory and fix, I found more empty space because the trophies couldn't fill it.
Today when I "lose" a game my head points north and my fingers point high. When I win I don't speak of I or me.. but I speak of him. See I found something that would fill the space and my cup would overflow. The "student-athlete of the year" plaque and popularity couldn't fulfill me but he could. He is Christ. He is Success.
When I say success I don't mean getting that new car or raise you've been working for. I definitely don't speak of a prosperity gospel. Money will not bring you joy because I've never seen suitcases in or on top of a hearse. Wins on an athletic field add up to history and a high of any kind leaves you desiring more after the quick-fix is over and gone. I speak of a success that leaves you with a cross and eternal life. The definition of success is not a life full of accomplishments, but a life full of Christ.
See as soon as you gain the Championship or raise of this world you soon begin to desire more but Christ is the gift the keeps on giving. Christ comes in, does work, and satisfies. I no longer pin my life upon self-glory but the glory and grace of he who lives in me.
John 4:13
13 Jesus replied, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life."
We're told from the time we are born, "make the grade", or "make the play", then as we age we're told to "step up", "be the man", "make the most you can". If you don't do these things I promise you, that you will be seen as a failure to the world. You will be seen as a disgrace or simply insane. I tell you today, don't work for this life but let him give you life, and live that life for him and you will have joy and peace that you could never imagine.
I have scored the touchdowns and gotten the trophies but none of those compare to what I have in Christ, you can have it too. Jesus is enough.
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