Life Goes On

Recently I preached on the topic "Loving God With All Your Strength". That the message coincided with the Winter Olympics gave me ample metaphors from the world of sport. For the week prior to the message we had seen via TV athletes who "played hurt" because participating in the Olympics meant so much to them. One athlete fell into a ravine, clamored out and finished the ski race. A post race exam showed that she had four broken ribs and a punctured lung. Oh that American Christians had such "grit". In our day, a headache, sniffles, allergies, being "worn out" from being a week end athlete on Saturday and any number of other minor maladies will often take a believer out of action on Sunday. Amazingly, healing takes place in time for work or school on Monday. We can play through pain and tiredness for the sake of a grade or a paycheck, but not in service for our King. I recently read a quote by C. S. Lewis which said, "God whispers t...

In the gospels of Matthew and Mark, we find quotes from Deuteronomy 6:5 reminding us of the need to love God with our total being. One aspect of our being is "strength". A good definition of strength is "power", "might", or "exertion". Consequently, if we are to love God with all our strength, it will require us to work up a sweat for His sake. Mark Batterson in his book PRIMAL reminds readers that the words of Jesus at the judgment are "Well DONE good and faithful servant" not "well SAID". I thought of this as I watched cross-country skiers collapse across the finish line at the Olympics the other night. The athletes were totally spent. They were gasping for breath, they fell face first into the snow. All of this for a medal? Those of us who know and love Christ are vying for a much greater reward and yet, few of us are expending that kind of energy in expressing our love for God. I'm convinced that the heart o...