The Christian walk is like a sports event in many ways. You are the player, and you much listen to the coach. You must do what the coach says because you know he knows best and he knows the playbook. Sometimes, you might not know the purpose of your coaches instruction, but you know should follow them anyway. You have a team playing with you-they have your back no matter what position you play. You practice at least once week with this team, or maybe even in solitude, but the real test of your skills is putting them into action the game. There is a team playing against you-ready and willing to push you out of the way to get the ball. There is a playing field, and its either your home, the field that you know very well. Or it’s away, a field that is completely new to you. And you have spectators, who judge you based on your moves. If you screw up, they blame you for losing the entire game. But if you make a great play, there excitement lasts only until another person makes a great play. These spectators love the game, but they don’t know how to play it. But they think they know how to play it, so they scream and yell from the sidelines, telling players what to do and giving advice. These spectators are so loud! You focus on making them happy, you focus on their screams, letting their excitement fuel your determination.
But what about the coach? We always seem to forget the coach. It’s only when he screams our name at the top of his lungs that we remember he is watching the game too.
God is that coach. He knows best. He knows the playbook. But sometimes we get so focused on the crowd of spectators, we lose focus of him. It’s easy to think that a good game is one that wins and pleases the crowd. But it’s not. A good game is one where you work hard, showing your coach just how hard you are willing to play.
In Proverbs 5:21, it says, “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. And He ponders all his paths.”
I love that verse. For the ways of man ARE before the Lord. We cannot forget he is watching us.
The rest of the chapter goes on to explain that if we lose our ability to discern right from wrong, good from evil, Godly from wordly, we will only be hurting ourselves. We will only be caught up in our own sin, our own mistakes in the game, and we will lose.
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