No one likes a cheater! I think everyone desires “fairness” and most people shun “ill-gotten gain!” Recent news has given lots of air time [no pun intended] to the “lack of air” in a football which apparently was an unfair advantage! Since I am not an expert in this area, I trust that the ones most affected will get to the bottom of this and maybe it will “evoke” change to eliminate…such things from ever happening again. I have read and heard countless people’s opinion on this! It really has gotten me to thinking……………
So…what I would love to do for just a moment is pose a question. With America’s love for and intoxication for sports…which is obvious by just observing the staggering amount of money that is thrown that way, not to mention the attention…..well, is it fair? The older I get…and hopefully wiser…I look at the money…(our family included and I am at the top of this list)…spent on sports…and I ask myself…Is this God’s intention?
Is it fair to live in a country that enjoys such freedom and allow myself to spend so much money on sports? You can put plenty of other things in the place of sports…but in light of the recent Super Bowl and all the hoopla surrounding it…I am choosing to examine sports in light of “fairness” in God’s eyes.
What if all Americans were subjected to a law which mandated that, for every dollar you spend on sports, you have to give an equal amount to the “poor and sick!” How many people would clamor that this was unfair?????
Sometimes…I marvel at what gets people’s attention, including mine. What we spend our emotions on, our energy, our money. I am the first to say many, many, many times in my life, I have gotten this wrong. Very wrong!
I have spent emotion, time, energy and money on things that just don’t matter.
I encourage you today…and can say honestly I am doing this….examine where your mind is.….Which leads to where your heart is.….Which leads to where your money, time and emotions abide.
If we all allowed God to dominate our thoughts, where would we expend ourselves to make a difference??
What would we scream about?
Expend…emotion toward?
It has been demonstrated over and over again in our world–“the squeaky wheel gets the most oil!”
What would God have us squeak about? What do we deem important enough to take a stand about? Focus on? Put our efforts toward? I realize God calls us all to do different things…..but would He rather us focus on and spend our energy on complaining about “air in footballs” or put our energy into the needy, poor or sick? What does Scripture tell us? Psalm 82:3-4, “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
Micah 6:8 hits home with me. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Sometimes our passions can be misguided to the point that we don’t expend our energy on the things money can’t buy and death can’t take away. Things that live on after we are gone. Just something to examine.
I can tell you…to truly do this is not at all comfortable…and even more…it is down right difficult and uncomfortable. But what I know is this….to truly grow as a Christian and follow Christ…you have to embrace the idea of “becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable!”
Psalm 112:9, “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.”