March 1, 2021 - That's How I Roll!

As I write this devotion, it is the 1000^th consecutive weekly internet devotion we have put online (the first being the first Monday of 2002)! The internet has afforded us incredible opportunities to share God’s Playbook (The Word) and His message of the Substitute (Savior) He sent into the game of life for us! During that first year I was given an opportunity to write the text for a Gospel tract being shared at the World Cup soccer tournament that was being held that year in Korea/Japan… later I was privileged to correspond/collaborate with a missionary that utilizes basketball in Ireland… we’ve developed a partnership with an outreach in the Dominican Republic… and I could go on and on; not to mention the awesome opportunities stateside to encourage and equip others to play the game of life in a way that glorifies God!

There are times I want to quit… times when I wonder if I am doing any good… times I was maybe overseas and had to figure out a way to get something posted… times I’m simply tired… even a week that I was laid up in a hospital bed and had to have a “sub” write for me that week…

And now being at the 1000-mark, I am going to use this week to tell you why I keep going…

As I thought about what things are the mark of a good athlete, I wrote down commitment… perseverance… hard work. I thought about the strongest man I know (Brian Creel of AthElite Nation) who has stayed consistent with his workouts since he was in 7^th grade (he’s now in his 40’s.) He doesn’t skip workouts because he is “having a bad day”… he doesn’t try to find shortcuts to getting stronger (is a CLEAN athlete)… he trusts the process… etc.

I think about what “could have been” if I were that committed to any of my sports endeavors? I think about a devotion I wrote on here many years ago about wanting God to see me “play my best.”

And bottom line is this… I do what I do simply because “that’s how I roll!”

Psalm 37 is a great challenge of what someone committed should look like… for time sake, I’ll jump straight to the key verse…

verse 5: COMMIT your WAY to the Lord, TRUST also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

WAY: means your course of life… your character… the road you are traveling

TRUST: to be confident in, to the point you don’t need to supplement it with something else

COMMIT: I know this is a commonly used descriptor of athletes, or anyone that is finding success; yet as I researched the Hebrew word used in this verse (Galal) and was blown away by its definition… it literally means to roll or to roll together…

The Psalmist is challenging us to TRUST God’s WAY for the road we are traveling… to “roll with God!”

So, if you want to know why I’ve done this for 1000 consecutive weeks, “That’s how I roll!”