Today's Devotional
May 23, 2006
Subject: Play By The Rules
1 Corinthians 9:27 - "Rather, I toughen my body with punches and make it my slave so that I will not be disqualified after I have spread the Good News to others."
The San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks were playing the final game of a "best out of 7" series. That means the first team to win 4 games would win the series. The teams were quite evenly matched and the series was tied at 3 wins each until last night. In the end the Mavericks of Dallas won the game and will advance to play in the next round, but one of the things I've learned after a fairly long life of playing sports and watching many more sports on TV is that it really isn't whether you win or lose, it's whether or not you played by the rules.
In game 5 of this Texas series, one of the Dallas players was seen on video, punching one of the San Antonio players and was subsequently suspended for game 6. That is not a part of basketball and was obviously against the rules. When that player arrived in San Antonio, he was booed quite loudly for most of the game and especially when he was fouled.
Whether it be this controversy or the Barry Bonds controversy surrounding whether or not he used steroids, people in the end really do want to know if you played by the rules. The Christian walk is much the same. We see great men and women of God and we ultimately wonder in our minds if they are authentic and if they play by the rules when they are in private or are they "throwing illegal punches" or using "illegal substances."
Paul told Timothy to run the race to receive the prize and then in the passage above, he talked about ensuring that he would not be disqualified in "the game." As believers, we win because we have chosen Christ. We win according to the rules when we've chosen Christ and do the things that we should be doing. A Christian using language that is profane is not playing by the rules. A Christian drunk on the sidewalk outside of a club is not playing by the rules. A Christian disparaging another person for any reason is not playing by the rules. These are but a few examples of ways we play, but not according to the rules of our relationship with Christ.
Today, lets be believers of character. It's not good enough for us to win, we want to win according to the rules.
