It has been another long day where I felt like had the “pedal
to the metal” throughout… so many things to accomplish and so little time to do
them; and just got home a short time ago from a night out with our worship team
at a revival service. It was a great night of worship and I definitely needed
to stop and focus on “how great is our God!”
I thought back to when I was young and how I would handle
stressful days and nights… it was not always by focusing on God, but most often
by finding a hoop to shoot around on. I remember many nights after midnight
shooting on the outdoor courts at Washington School… well technically not the
courts but the one goal that had just enough light coming from the security
light on the corner of the cafeteria. I remember the one goal with light that was
behind Harrison High School. I just had an out in my mind when I went on the
court to shoot around. I loved basketball!
Even when I wasn’t stressed, I spent many afternoons and
evenings on courts outside or in… being in Indiana we had the obvious places
like a YMCA or renting the court at the YWCA… or renting the little gyms that
many of the Catholic churches had… etc. I loved basketball!
When you love something, you want to spend time with it…
you think about it all the time… you make it a priority… IT CONSUMES YOU… it
becomes your life!
As I was preaching yesterday I was talking about the idea
of worship. We looked at Jesus’ description in John 4 where He stated that true
worship is in “spirit and truth.” I then went to Colossians 3:23… a very common
verse I use and shared that truly worshipping involves more than a praise
service on Sunday morning… that verse tells us that “whatever” we do… (“whatever”
is a huge word; it encompasses everything in life)… we should do it “heartily,
as to the Lord and not to men.”
It’s the word “heartily” that really caught my attention,
In the Greek it carries an idea of: breath…
the vital force that animates the body and shows itself in breathing; the seat
of feelings… Do you see that? This has the idea of something that CONSUMES
YOU!
Believer, does the thought of God consume you? Is He
truly your life or just part of it? I made the following statement while I was
preaching: “Don’t schedule God into your life; instead schedule your life into
God!”
Everything we do should be to bring Him glory! (By the
way, I still love basketball, it just doesn’t consume me anymore.)
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