I love participating in sports! It engages the mind and the body as circumstances display the release of emotions of the heart in various ways. As a believer in Jesus and His Word I have come to ask myself many times why we should engage in athletics. The Bible uses forms of athletics as illustrations of the Christian life- endurance, determination, pursuit, competition. But, is that the end? Is the illustration to illuminate the gain of pouring our heart and mind and soul into a sport? SO- one asks- what is the prize that we set our eyes on?
Php 3:14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (NKJV)
1Co 9:25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. (NKJV)
What is the call and what is the imperishable crown?
Without doing in-depth word studies it is obvious that the passages are referring to the call to Christ-likeness. As a believer we learn to see everything in life with a God-ward eternal focus. In other words, if what I am doing right now has no eternal purpose then it is a waste.
All of this is stirred up in my mind because I overheard a parent counseling some other parents the other day on why their son was allowed to play sports. The comment was made: "If he wants to play football for the sake of learning a sport and learning it well- pouring his heart and determination into it, then that is what he needs to do. But I made it clear to him that he is not going out there to make friends".
I'll let you determine what is more important to you- seeing the end as sports or as people in need of relationships that point them to Christ.
