I had the privilege of spending the weekend with 15 young
men at Grace Farm; we spent time doing a little bit of service work, playing
some games, and digging into God’s Playbook (the Word.) In all we had 6 huddles
in the Playbook – I taught 5 of them based upon lessons from the soldier, the
athlete, and the farmer found in 2 Timothy 2:1-7; the other huddle was while
sitting around the campfire as Freddie Coile shared his testimony and a
challenge for the young men to share their faith with others as they head back
to school.
The young men that went are all athletically-minded; in
other words they understood as I challenged them to rise to the top. They understood
as I challenged them to pursue excellence. They understood when I challenged
them to raise the bar and not accept being average…
“Every time you stay up late; every time you sleep in;
every time you miss a workout; every time you don’t give 100%... you make it that
much easier for me to beat you.” (Unknown)
Simply put a life of excellence demands commitment; it
demands time. The trip was hopefully an encouragement to the young men in their
athletic pursuits, but more importantly in their spiritual pursuits.
Basically every believer I talk with says that he wants
to live of life of spiritual excellence. All of them seem to indicate a desire
to please the Lord. Yet most are struggling…
What if the previous quote were put into spiritual
perspective: “Every time you stay up late (making the next day that much
harder); every time you sleep in (and skip your morning quiet time); every time
you miss a workout (when Bible study, church, youth group is not important);
every time you don’t give 100% (and pursue your own agenda instead of God’s)…
you make it that much easier for me to beat you (to trip you up, to steal
victory and joy from your life.)” [Satan]
So what is the answer? Today live a life of
excellence!!!!!!! The challenge is always based in “today” because tomorrow
never comes…
Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you don’t
know what a day may bring forth.
Today is the day…
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