Get Off Your Butt and Get In The Game!

The Super Bowl is Sunday.  One of the big stories that you’ve been hearing about is Ray Lewis, the pro bowl linebacker.  He’s one of the greats of the game and this is his last year.  It’s a great story that the Super Bowl will be his last game as a pro.  It’s been great career.

Now picture this:  It’s Super Bowl Sunday.  All the hype is in the past.  The stadium is electric with energy.  The teams are lining up for kickoff and the television camera pans through the crowd and you suddenly see something unexpected.  Ray Lewis, in full gear except for his helmet, is sitting in the stands.  You see him yelling “Go Ravens” with a beer in one hand and popcorn in the other.  That would be stupid!

Ray Lewis is part of the team.  He’s supposed to be on the field.  He has a job to do.  Why would he be in the stands watching?

Some people I know are like that.  They claim to be part of the church but they have never really gotten involved.  They never serve.  They never give.  They just come and sit for an hour if there is nothing better to do that day.

“The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him-and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by.”  -Frances Chan

Think about that for a moment.  Let it sink in.

If that’s you, I just want to say that the Church NEEDS YOU.   YOU need God and you also need the church.  It all goes together.  1 Corinthians 12 talks about how we’re all given “gifts” by God to use for His purposes.  If you aren’t there for your purpose, the Church isn’t all that it’s supposed to be.  Just like the Ravens would miss Ray Lewis, the Church misses you if you’re sitting in the stands watching.

Besides the Church missing you, you can’t grow into all that God has for you if you aren’t on the “field”, playing with the team.  You need God and walking with Him means serving Him and being part of a local church.  He said that in the Bible.  I didn’t make it up.  If you want a life that will count towards something that will last forever, get on the field.  It’s time for the game NOW.