Game On

January 25, 2016

Game On

Train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

1 Timothy 4:7b-8

Many years ago I heard John Ortberg (Former Teaching Pastor at Willow Creek and currently Senior Pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California) say, “It is possible to do with training what is impossible to do by trying.” That thought came to mind a few days ago when I was playing tennis. I began playing tennis 2 ½ years ago to add more physical activity to my new- found retirement lifestyle. I’ve grown to love the game, and I’m blessed to have a great group of men here in our community who come together three times a week for good exercise, and even better fellowship. As much as we love the comradery, we do take the game seriously, and thus as the newbie I’ve been on a pretty sharp learning curve. A few days ago the forecast snow held off, and four of us hit the courts with the temperature in the mid-20’s, which brings me back to Brother Ortberg.

One particular shot stands out for me. As I began to move in position to return a shot, I was ever so briefly aware of the position of my opponents as I focused my attention on the ball to hit my return. One of opponents had moved toward the net and his entire backcourt was unattended. My return shot zipped passed him for a winner. In hindsight this all makes perfect sense, but at the time, in the one or two seconds that transpired while I positioned myself to return the shot, none of this was in my conscious mind. Through playing, practicing and working at my game, my mind has been trained to survey the court and to take the shot.

Sometimes my shots go into the net, or go long. Sometimes the training of the mind is willing, but the body has trouble executing the play. This is so very true of our spiritual lives as well. We are often the personification of Saint Paul’s lament, “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway” (Romans 7:18-19). The solution is the same for my tennis game, and for my spiritual life: more training. Sometimes I just need more time spent in training, and sometimes I need specific training with a coach to overcome obstacles and develop new strategies. I have found that I also need a spiritual coach. Sometimes I get stuck and lament with Saint Paul too long. I need help identifying the obstacles preventing me from free flowing in the life of grace.

Bottom line? Stay in the game and keep training for righteousness! And, never, ever lose sight of Paul’s great hallelujah which comes in conjunction with his lament:

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.