Get in the Game
3/11/01 …You Can’t Win if You Don’t Finish
Basketball is a great game
It is a simple game with many subtleties.
The objective is simple - One team tries to score the most points by getting the ball through the hoop while the other team tries to stop you from doing it. Simple! Except that you also are supposed to touch only the ball. This is a non-contact sport. Well - sort of.
And so you have a game where there is the offence emphasizing great individual skills of shooting and ball handling. And at the same time there is the importance of team effort with each person supporting and augmenting the efforts of the others. The calculated plays and the risks taken to drive the ball down the lane or the well placed pic that sets up a nice easy jump shot all become part of the effort of putting that ball through that hoop.
Then there is the defense - man to man or zone - which attempts to stop the other teams scoring drives. And there is nothing really quite so satisfying as the sound of a ball being slapped away from the goal; or the sheer relief of your teams defensive forward coming down with a rebound - elbows out - hands wrapped around the ball - staying planted and holding on until the floor clears.
I played basketball in ninth grade
I was on the jv squad along with about 19 other fellows. 15 guys got to wear suits and 5 had to ride the bench in civilian clothes because we didn’t have enough uniforms for everyone. I usually rode the bench.
I did get into one game. I got fouled and got one free throw. I swished it. That is how I lettered in basketball. That is also the end of my basketball career. It seemed wise to retire while I was doing well.
I’m not very good at sports. I don’t really enjoy following the games on a day to day basis - but there is something about the competition in college basketball at NCAA tournament time that sucks me into the excitement.
One thing I have noticed is how important it is for the team to be in good physical condition!
Some teams run hard the whole 40 minutes of play. Some teams move slowly. It is usually the team with the best conditioning who at the end of the game have the strength to finish and win.
We are in a race to the end and we are playing to win. You can’t win if you don’t finish!
What does it take to be spiritually conditioned for the competition? Personal Training
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
You cannot build a strong body unless you…
...Pay the price
The TV ads selling easy weight loss through dieting, vitamin supplements, or fat blocking pills always says in the fine print or hastily mentions in the announcers narration that their program will produce results if accompanied by exercise.
And have you noticed that the television ads selling a well-toned body through the use of their equipment (usually a wheel on a steel bar or tangled mass of ropes and pulleys) always says in their fine print or off hastily mentions that results are best when accompanied by a proper diet.
No matter how you cut it - you have to eat right and exercise if you want to lose weight and get into good physical condition. There are no short cuts. There are no magic pills and no quick easy solutions.
...Pay it a little at a time - repeatedly
I am told that if you work out 20 minutes a day for 5 days a week that it is far better than a 5-hour workout once a week.
I am told that if you study a little every day it is better than cramming all night before the test.
I am told that it is better to work the bolts holding the head onto the engine block down little by little - working back and forth - one by one - rather than just cranking them down all the way one at a time.
...Pay it over an extended period of time
The Physical body is really something. When you start dieting - it starts rebelling! The body has an automatic God designed mechanism to protect it from starvation - hunger!
It gets rumbly in the tummy and we start salivating when we see a whopper on TV. (By the way - did you ever notice that the sandwich on TV is about 5 inches tall and the one you get at the drive up window has been smashed by a 15 year old teenage gorilla doing isometric aerobics? - It’s not fair!)
If you quit too soon - you’ll never see the results. And then the body says - "Humm - he might get it in his head to starve me again - I think I’ll store a few extra pounds away for next time…." And I add about five pounds around the mid-section!
Building Spiritual Stamina means Personal Training
The right diet
There are Four basic food groups - Ice cream, French-fries, M&M’s, and Lima beans.
Four Spiritual food groups too!
Grains: Bread of Life - Soul Food - Baptism; Lord’s Supper
Meats and cheeses: Protein - Bible Study; Meditation on God’s Word
Meditation on God’s word AND personal open relationship of gratitude, honesty and devotion to his will in your life.
Fruits and veggies: (lots of vitamins) - Prayer; thanksgiving, supplication, confession
Dessert - Worship and Praise; Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs.
By the way: Spiritual food is not boring!
It just isn’t prepared well sometimes!
It’s a Sin when it is not prepared well!!! Sometimes though you just need to stop being so picky
The right exercise
Ministry
Ministry is difficult
Dealing with people is always challenging
There is exertion and it can be very painful.
Romans 8
Prophet - telling truth to people
Teacher - equipping and training people
Exhorting - encouraging people
Serving - helping people
Giving - supporting people
Administrating - organizing people
Mercy giver - bandaging people
Ministry is all about people! People are difficult!
None of these tasks could ever be called easy!
Far easier to be a couch potato or a mouse potato
But there is something deeply satisfying in ministry
Ministry is required. If you don’t minister you will eventually atrophy and die
If you eat without ministering you become like a little Birdie in the nest - mouth open and demanding "feed me!". What that person needs is a Moma bird to shove them out and make them learn to fly! Some of you need a little shoving!
I am not the minister - you are!!!!
Ephesians 4:11-12 clearly shows how God has given some to help the people - that’s you - to minister and serve!
Paul at the end of his life knew that he had finished the race. He was "Poured out and spent".
2 Timothy 4:7
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day— and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
9 Do your best to come to me quickly,
What a way to go! I hope that on my deathbed I can say the same.
The right diet and the right exercise creates spiritual health
Pay the Price
Pay it repeatedly and consistently
Pay it over an extended period of time
If you are going to have what it takes to finish the race spiritually - you have got to make a decision - to train spiritually.
This is the only way to have the conditioning you will need to finish the course.
