Practice Makes Us Holy

I couldn’t stand the sound of a whistle blowing in high school. Because the majority of the time when a whistle blew, it was time for cardio drills at football practice. Sprints, tackle drills, bear crawls, and my personal favorite (not really), the dreaded up downs. Everyone of these methods of conditioning were, in my opinion, designed in cave man times as a form of torture. We would spend so much time doing these drills after practice. And if we were to lose a game, or just slack off in practice, then we had to do extra. Each time the whistle blew, our heart rates increased and our muscles screamed in agony at the cadence of the coach.

Most of our coaches were in great shape. But I remember we had one assistant coach who was in terrible shape. He wasnt our coach that long, because I believe he was filling in just to help out. He was a great coach. He knew the game of football like the back of his hand because he used to be a former player in his younger days. But it was obvious he had left the disciplines he had once learned on the grid iron in his past. He would preach to us the importance of staying in tip top shape. Yet I once saw him out in public smoking. He was coughing constantly. He would stress not only would it benefit us on the field, but also extend our life span.

And I remember getting so mad. Especially when he was the one blowing the whistle during conditioning, or screaming at me to suck it up and run an extra lap. He knew more than me when it came down to how to condition my body, but his poor health habits contradicted his message of the importance of physical fitness. He claimed to be such an advocate of physical fitness, but he didnt live the life.

Its easy for me to study the Bible. Its easy for me to type out a blog. And its easy for me to stand in front of a group of people and tell them that as Christians, their lives should image that of their maker. Its easy to tell someone what God says and how we are to live in light of Christ. But just speaking dead honestly, its hard to live it.

We are constantly fighting the sinful desires of the flesh. And we are so subtly enticed to betray our words as Christians by the things we fill our life with. One thing God taught me in Panama was how closely related our relationship with God is tied to activities that we do in our everyday lives. Things such as television, the local shopping mall, the internet, video games, cell phones, and the list goes on.  There is really no problem with having these things in our lives. But when these things begin to take on symptoms of an addiction, or more of a draw for us than time with Jesus, that’s when the water gets muddy. And that’s when its so easy to become hypocrites because we start being more influenced by modern day culture than Jesus Christ.

-We keep on telling people the commandments of God such as ‘Dont commit adultery’, but we saturate ourselves in reality shows and soap operas where the act of adultery is something we watch for entertainment. 

-We tell people the importance of giving to the poor and avoiding materialism, but we at times spend the majority of our money on ourselves rather than those in need.

-And we preach the importance of spending time with God daily. But when the rubber meets the road, God gets maybe fifteen minutes of our time and the internet gets hours. 

Our words dont show where God is on the scale of importance in our lives. But our lives tell the truth. And when we look at our relationship with Christ from this aspect, many times we realize how decieved and lukewarm we have been and we may not have even been aware of it! Thats how subtly Satan takes our eyes off of Jesus.

We didnt have the luxuries that the United States offers in Panama. We didnt watch television. We didnt have a shopping mall. And our cell phone use was very limited. But I have never grown closer to Christ in my life than when we were in Panama. The hunger for television was taken away. And a hunger for the gospel began to grow. My “need” for buying the newest clothes or electronics wasnt there because the store choices were limited. But in its place, we developed a love for ministering to  those in need. Its funny…the need to give to others actually became more of a draw in us than going to buy new stuff was in the United States!

Since returning to the United States, those old temptations have tried to creep back in. Getting sucked into a television show and forgetting that I had not cracked my Bible yet on a particular day is such a dangerous trap. The many consumers delights on every corner begging us to buy things fights to make us forget that there are those who are less fortunate that could use our help. But each time this happens, God ever so gentle whispers to me, “Remember what I have shown you.” And immediately, there is no competition. Jesus wins each time.

It is my daily prayer that the words I speak and write on the outside are an exact mirror image of what is on the inside. I pray that I practice living for Christ and making him first in my life just as much as preach about his love. I pray that when I blow the whistle telling someone how to live for Jesus, that I am not a hypocrite. And I pray the same desires for Christ be paramount in your lives. Dont let culture water down Jesus in your life. Dont let your words betray your life. Dont let your words be your only means of telling others about Christ. Let your life tell of your relationship with God. Thats the sign of a true Christian.

“The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” Isaiah 29:13.

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