Put It Into Practice

If you want to be the best you have to practice. Other than Allen Iverson, I can't think of a professional athlete who has said publicly that practice is overrated. Steph Curry recently said he wanted the coaches to point out what he was doing wrong so he could correct it and be better.

Riley didn't want to go to summer football workouts this morning. I can see why. He had a friend over and they would have preferred to sleep in. It's summer, isn't it? These are optional workouts and many of his teammates are skipping some, most, or all of them.

For a group of boys who haven't won a football game in two years I cannot understand why they wouldn't want to get in all the practice they can, even if it is optional. To me, optional workouts are opportunities to get even better.

It all comes down to an attitude of desiring to be the best you can be. That's also true for parts of our lives other than sports.

Daily I am confronted with the responsibility to live my life to glorify God and make his name known to all people. And daily I realize my faults and failures that led to a distorted witness. Every day I have the option to put into practice what I claim to believe.

Sometimes I don't want to do what it says. I made Riley go to practice but God doesn't make me obey. Often I wish he did.

Do you recognize yourself in my confession? What are we to do when we don't do what we ought to do?

Confess the sin of disobedience. Tied to disobedience may be apathy, selfishness, uncontrolled passions, or a number of other sins. No matter the sin, we can confess them and be assured God will forgive us.

Yield to the Holy Spirit moment by moment. The popular Christian song forty years ago said, "One day at a time, sweet Jesus..." For me, a day is often to bite too big to take. But this moment is manageable. "Jesus, help me honor you right now in this moment facing this situation." If you can pray that prayer in each moment of opportunity or temptation you can win the battles.

Celebrate the victories. I'm one who is prone to focusing on the losses and minimizing the wins. In baseball, a batter is great if he wins the battle with the pitcher one time out of ten chances. Not many players in the Hall of Fame can boast of a .333 lifetime batting average. So focus on the times (or time) you put God's word into practice and faithfully obeyed. I've learned how adjusting my perspective helps me stay the course...or makes me yearn to return to the course after veering off.

Live out your faith in community. Faithful living is much easier, much more rewarding, and much more purposeful together with others taking the same journey. You need to be part of a local body of believers: a church. And get involved with a small group that studies the Bible, shares life and ministry, encourages you, and holds you accountable.

I want to do my best as a follower of Jesus and I believe many believers feel the same way. Everyday we have to get up, get in the game, and get it done. And we are not alone. We have each other and we have the Bible and we have God's Spirit. We can do this! "Hear God's word and put it into practice" (Luke 8:21).