What Now?

Last week I told you about our high school football team winning the State Class C Championship for 8-man football.  It was an exciting time, and it still is.  But something is a little different around here now.  Gears have switched from football to basketball.  In fact, just two days after winning that championship, most of those boys played in their first basketball game of the season...and opener in a tournament.  From football to basketball - just that quick.

Our boys did okay in the tournament, but not as well as they were expected to do or as well as they wanted to do.  They are super-talented, but they were super worn out!  They are physically and emotionally exhausted!  They're ready to take some time off soon during Christmas break.

Several of us adults have noticed the boys' demeanor.  It's almost like they are 'down', even though they won the championship.  I think it is because for a whole year, they have been striving for a goal...determined to get that top prize....the gold ball.....and they did.  They got it!  But, after working, praying, wishing, hoping, dreaming of getting it for so long, it's like something is missing.  There's nothing else to strive for.  They got to the top!  So now, it's a little bit of a let down because that goal is gone.  It sounds strange, but it makes complete sense in worldly issues.

In spiritual issues, this whole "striving for the goal", but a "little disappointed after it is reached" makes no sense whatsoever!  As Christians, we are striving for the goal, which is eternal life in Heaven with God and Jesus.  We're working towards that goal by following Jesus and by living according to God's Word.  We have detours and must rely on God's grace and mercy and forgiveness along the way, but we're still striving for that goal.  But something is different about this goal in comparison to a gold ball.  This goal will last forever....for eternity.  The gold ball will pass away.  The memories will stay for years, but fade.  The experience of being a state champion will always be there, but will not be quite as important as it was on December 1.  The ultimate goal and victory in Jesus by eternity with Him in Heaven will never, ever fade away.  It will never be a let down.  It will be far better than we could ever imagine!

I pray that you are looking forward to reaching that goal and are obeying His Word by believing and following His commands to be His child.  In Heaven we won't ask, "What's now?".  We'll be enjoying being in His presence forever and ever!

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;

Philippians 3:13-15

Blue Ribbons

These blue ribbons from the Oklahoma State Fair are pretty neat to a 4-H member who has had something place at the fair.  Of course, the blue ribbon is always the 1st place ribbon.  Because it's the State Fair it means a little bit more to the winner.  It means they placed 1st at their county fair to even be able to go to state, but then that their entry won over all of the other entries.  Perhaps they won over lots of other entries.  The prize is this ribbon and a sum of money.

When my children were little, they would enter lots of items in our local and county fair.  For one thing, it helped the local fair have more entries, but it also gave me an opportunity to do craft projects with my children all summer long...in preparation for the up-coming fairs.  An added bonus was that they won some money along with the ribbon awards.

After each fair, my daughter would take all of the ribbons - hers, mine, her brothers - and put them on a shelf that had five pegs.  She put all of the first place ribbons on the first one, 2nd place ribbons on the second, and so on....ending with the 5th place ribbons.  She enjoyed her collection.

When she was five we moved to a different house.  I told her the ribbons had to go....that we weren't going to keep all of them in the newer house.  She was a little disappointed at first, but quickly forgot about it.  We donated all of the ribbons to our county extension office to be recycled and used for the fairs.  To this day we still donate back all of our ribbons - keeping only a few for scrapbook purposes.  My kids have gotten so many ribbons in their lives that it isn't special to them any more.  The ribbon doesn't mean that much to them, though the placing that the ribbon represents does.  They still enjoy placing first, naturally! :)

On the flip side of this thought, I have a new 4-H member in my local club who entered a pencil drawing at the county fair.  He was soooooooo excited about his project and couldn't wait until it was time for the drawing to be judged.  As he rode home with me one day, he analyzed the other entries in his drawing category.  He kept saying, "I think I got this!  I think I can win this!"  He was so cute!  So you can imagine his excitement when he visited the fair the next day and found that he had won 1st place and that his drawing would be sent to the Oklahoma State Fair to compete at that level!  He was very, very proud of that blue ribbon.  I'm sure it's in a place of honor at his house!  He didn't place at the state fair and was disappointed that it didn't, but he's already ready to compete again next year - trying to do an even better job on his drawings.

Sometimes when we are "used" to blessings, we forget to recognize them as blessings.  We may become ungrateful and complacent in our thinking.  But we shouldn't.  We should be just as thankful in times of abundance as we are in times of drought, shouldn't we?  It may be harder to be thankful at the sparse times, but we should still praise God in those times.  We should still thank Him for the blessings we do have - because even in sparse times, our blessings are really still abundant if we will just stop and look around.

Yes, my children take winning ribbons for granted.  They've been doing it since they were little.  However, my little 4-H member doesn't.  This year - as a 9 year old - was the first ribbon he had ever won.  He was ecstatic!  He thought of it as a wonderful prize - something special that he took pride in because of the time he had spent on his entry and felt that he did a great job.  He was thankful for that prize and for what it meant.

This makes me think of our Christian lives.  Many Christians were "raised in the church"...meaning they attended worship with their parents as a baby, grew up worshipping and attending Bible classes regularly, were baptized many years ago, and still continue to be an active part of the Lord's church for the remainder of their life.  They've never known any different.  Of course, they recognize that they sin and that they had a need for a Savior, but they didn't ever go through a "rock bottom" stage of life.

On the other hand, some Christians weren't raised in a Christian home.  In fact, they had no knowledge of any type of spiritual life while growing up.  As a teen, they got into trouble.  Alcohol, drugs, sexual promiscuity were a big part of normal life until soon, addictions took hold of their life to the point they couldn't function.  They became beaten down.  Broken.  They hit rock bottom.  But someone came to visit them at the prison.  This person took the time to talk to them about eternity and God....Jesus....Salvation.  The person talked of how the blood of Jesus could wash all of the sin away.  It could be totally forgiven and explained that a new life could begin - a new life in Christ.  The person gave their life to God, claimed the promises spoken of in His Word, and put on the Lord in baptism to have their sins washed away and to be white as snow.  A baptized believer who was very thankful for the forgiveness of sins and for this new walk of life in the footsteps of Jesus!

Two extremes.  Both Christians.  Both thankful for their salvation given freely by God's gift of His Son.  Both thankful for a Savior who was willing to sacrifice His life for their life.

But what's the difference in the two?  The first Christian is thankful, but may not have the same appreciation for the gift as the second one.  They may even take it for granted. Not that it's the right attitude to have, but sometimes it's hard to realize just how special something is if you haven't seen the flip side of the scenario.  The second Christian knows what he/she has.  He/she knows how special that saving grace and forgiveness really is.  They've known what it is like to feel totally away from God.  They lived it for years.  The first Christian had God in their lives forever.  They lived it their whole life.

Which one are you?  The first Christian or the second or somewhere in the middle?  It would do us all good to think about how we think of our life in Christ.....analyze how we feel about salvation and our need for the Savior.

We don't want to get used to being a Christian....like my children have gotten used to getting the ribbons.  We want to remember how special that salvation and forgiveness really is!  We want to be excited about that gift, just as my little 4-H guy is excited about his blue ribbon!

Think about the gift today.  Think about the prize.  And think about how your feel about the sacrifice of Jesus for you.

The Losing Streak is Broken!

If you would have asked my daughter about their junior high basketball team for that past two years, you would have heard the following:  "We've lost every game for two years." 

I can't remember how many games it was - 50 something, I believe.  But, guess what?  Last Thursday night, during the first basketball game of the new season, the junior high girls team won!  It was an exciting night for the girls and for all of the fans, too.

Winning isn't everything, of course, but losing isn't either.  No one wants to lose all of the time.  On the other hand, it's not good to win all of the time, either (shhhhh, don't tell any coaches I said that!).  Being both a good winner and a good loser shows character.  It helps learn to be gracious winners and losers.

The junior high girls kept a good attitude all during their losing streak.  Instead of sulking, giving up, and having an attitude of being defeated, they would go out onto the court expecting to do their best and striving to win each game.  This year with a new coach, they've learned more and prepared more and that hard work has paid off.

Paul talked about striving towards goals and winning a prize.  I referred to his reference to running in this post.  In the scripture below, Paul states that he is pressing on toward the goal.  Of course his goal isn't the kind of goal as the basketball team looked toward.  His goal was heaven...."heavenward in Christ Jesus".

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:12-14

As Christians, our goal should also be heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Jesus is the only way in which we can become a child of God and obtain the goal of heaven.  But, we should also look to Paul's example in the verse above.  He didn't give up or get complacent in living the Christian life.  He did not become arrogant and believe he had done all he could do for God.  No, he didn't look back on the past (ex. past mistakes maybe), he kept his eyes focused on what was ahead of him, and he continued to press on toward the goal.

Basketball focuses on offense and defense.  Maybe as Christians we should do the same.  We're playing defense against Satan.  And our offensive play is taking us toward the goal of heaven.  Our Christian brothers and sisters are our team mates.  God is the "Head Coach".  Jesus is the "Owner" (we're a pro team) - He bought us with his blood. The Holy Spirit is the "Assistant Coach".

Let's Go Team!

Winning isn't Everything....But Neither is Loosing!

You've most likely heard the phrase, "Winning isn't everything." It is very true, isn't it? However, loosing isn't everything, either! No one wants to loose all of the time. Our daughter, Lauren, will tell you that. Their junior high basketball team has lost thirty-six games in a row! They have not won one game in two years. However, I will say that this year they had a few that were closer and actually were ahead in one or two at the beginning of the games. The junior high girls have high hopes for the upcoming basketball season this fall. They want to break that loosing streak!

Another example is our son, Jacob. His baseball team last summer only won one regular season game. They were so excited and so were the coaches and parents! You would have thought they had won the World Series! Then tournament began and they won the first game and almost won the second one, too. Everyone was still excited because the team as a whole had improved. This year is a completely different story. Jacob's team has only lost twice and it was to the same team both times. They are first in their league and will play for the championship tomorrow evening. Guess who they're playing??? Yep! That same team for the third time! Either way it goes, they've had a great year.

It's fun to win. It's not so fun to loose. However, it's just as important to learn to be a good "winner" as it is to be a good "looser". Some people cannot handle defeat. Children learn to handle defeat and success by watching their parents and other adults. Hopefully they are seeing good examples by watching their parents and other adults, but sadly, often they are not.

Ball games are fun. We understand that there's always a winner and a looser. Sometimes one team gets a prize and the other team doesn't. That's the name of the game. But, there is one prize we all want. Paul talked about "games" and this "prize" in 1 Corinthians.

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. 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. 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. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Yes, the race we are in now is the race or game that can result in a prize that is incomparable to any prize that can ever be won on earth. That prize is the crown of life and a Heavenly home with God for all eternity! That's one game none of us want to loose!