Verse of the day: Deuteronomy
6:6-7 “And these words which I
command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them
diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
It amazes me when I see people
who will argue, and fight, tooth and nail, to defend their favorite sports team(s).
If they meet someone from an opposing team, a rival team, they will argue
player and team stats to prove that their team is better, and sometimes those
arguments will rise to the level of almost having physical altercations. Some
of the people that I have seen be almost that vehement about their favorite
team(s) are Christians. Sadly, I do not often see those same Christians defend
the faith, or share the Gospel, with such fervor and excitement. We are the
same people who will go to a sporting event and make complete fools of
ourselves cheering on our team, yet barely say “amen” in church when the
preacher preaches the Word of God. I have been in many fellowship gatherings
where the conversation of sports took center stage, yet Jesus’ name was barely
mentioned. What amazes me most is that when these favorite teams win, we
personally gain nothing from it, yet we pay astronomical prices to go to their
games, but make excuses as to why we cannot pay tithes and offerings. We
celebrate as if we were the ones who personally scored the winning points; yet
we receive not one award or penny from all the money that team and its players
made. We gain absolutely nothing. Jesus, on the other hand, made us part of a
winning team when we called upon Him, were given eternal life, and adopted into
God’s family. The winning team that we are on, with Jesus as our Captain, bestows
upon us great rewards, all of which we do not deserve. Yet, we often spend very
little time cheering Him on, and talking about Him and our team. The command
given to God’s people, in these verses, still apply to us today. James 1:22
tells us to be doers of the Word, and not just hearers. However, in order to be
doers, we must know what the Word of God says. In order for the Word to take
prominence in our lives, it must be ingrained in our hearts. In order for the
Word to be ingrained in our hearts, we must make it a priority to meditate on
it. This means that we are to think on it, rehearse it in our minds, until its
truth is written on, and hidden in, our hearts. We are to pick it apart and
study it until we understand its meaning and application (2 Tim 2:15). Along
with that, it must also be constantly on our lips. Our children, those who know
us, and those we encounter, should know us as Christians who are not ashamed to
speak the Word of God, share the Gospel, and live it (Rm 1:16). We should be
known as Christians who are always ready to explain our faith to anyone who
will listen, and not shy away from those who attempt to put it down (1 Pt
3:15). Verse 5 of this chapter reads as follows, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and
with all your strength.” This is a command that is repeated for us in
the New Testament, it was given to us again, by Jesus, in Matthew 22:37, Mark
12:30, and Luke 10:27. This can only happen if we have as much fervor as
described in these verses. As born again believers, we truly are on the winning
team. Unlike the sports teams we cheer on, whose players are paid astronomical
amounts of money, and enjoy earthly fame, which quickly fades once their teams
are no longer winning teams or once they can no longer perform as they did when
they were younger and able; we have rewards that will never fade. We are
forgiven all our trespasses and are bound for Heaven. We are gathering riches
and have an inheritance that is reserved for us that no one can take from us (1
Pt 1:4). Our rewards are eternal and when we play our part on our team, the
consequences and rewards are eternal. So what excuse can we possibly have for
not being as excited about the team we are on, than the team(s) that we gain
nothing of eternal value from? The bottom line is that the only way we will
ever truly love God with all that we are is by having the kind of dedication
that drives us to constantly be in God’s Word, committing it to memory,
planting it in our hearts, and continually telling others about it, as well as
living it before the world.
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