As a coach there have been times that players filled the
position I told them to fill, performed the action I instructed them to
perform, and ran through skills or conditioning drills I gave them; yet things
just weren’t as productive in the games as I had envisioned and those same
players didn’t necessarily show any joy in playing the game… some through the
years even quit… Sometimes whole teams underachieved…
So what was the problem? (To be honest it could have been
at times simply poor planning on my part and therefore poor results.) More
often than that, it stemmed from certain players not “buying into” the overall
plan. Oh, they knew they needed to do what coach said, (some even loved me as a
friend/teacher), but they simply didn’t inwardly agree with my plan/vision for them
as individuals.
“Buying in” means you come into agreement…
This is where I feel many problems stem from in the
Christian’s walk. We often realize we have gone against God’s plan and truly
feel sorry for it and plan to stop… only to repeat it again. Or maybe we serve
in positions with no joy but realize we need to be faithful and just keep
plugging along – while not experiencing the results envisioned and possibly
even stepping away (nice way of saying “quitting.”)
I believe the problem is in the wrong definition of “repentance.”
We have listened over and over to definitions that basically state that
repentance and obedience are synonyms. Well I am here to tell you that you can
be obedient and not be repentant! (How many players have run laps for a coach –
obeying and receiving discipline – but while running thinking the whole time
that the coach is the one wrong?)
Repentance is the word “Metanoia” which literally means an
after-thought… or in other words a change of mind from one way of thinking to
another. Simply put, true repentance is not obedience but instead a whole new
way of thinking (which in turn leads to
joyful/fruitful obedience.)
My goal as a coach was to try to get the guys to trust me
and believe I had their best at heart. The goal in the Christian life is
similar: Each believer learning more and more how much God loves us by being in
His transforming Word and in turn trusting him more and more as the Word
changes our way of thinking which in turns changes our way of living and
serving…
I challenge you today to get to know God in a deeper way!
I challenge you to get into His Word, not as just a spiritual discipline, but
as a way to get to know Him better! I challenge you to let the Word of God
transform your mind (which is true repentance)! I challenge you to “buy into”
God’s plan…
See Romans 12:2;
Psalm 119:9, 11
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