Training Camp (part one)

Yes, my favorite season is almost here: the crunching sound of shoulder pads, the cool breeze from flying pigskins, the roar of the crowd, and the thunderous growls men make when hitting and knocking each other down. This could mean only one thing, football training camp has begun! Here is a picture of myself with Chicago Bears wide receiver Rashied Davis. (don't you love our football tough smiles?)

Rashied was out on the practice field 45 minutes before anyone else on the team, doing pass catching drills with a passing machine, doing leg stretches and running drills. In other words, he was out there putting in the extra effort in order to succeed on the field of play. He even spent 15 minutes giving out autographs and taking pictures with the fans. A really great guy!

This is not their only training camp that they go through in the off season, but the one that is the most important if you want to make the team. The football season is a long, hard, grueling one, so they need to be well conditioned both in and out of season.

In a somewhat similar fashion our walk with Christ needs daily conditioning as well. This takes discipline on our part.

Our Christian walk isn't based on job performance, how well we do, or how much we do. There are no points earned to get to heaven. God just wants us to live our lives representing Jesus the best way possible, and this takes spiritual conditioning. His desire for us is:

That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (Col.1:10-12)

If we approach our Christian life as being a chore, we will never receive the full benefit and joy of following Him. The chaotic lives we may lead will only drag us down, but the Lord says if

we walk worthy of Him and are fully pleasing to Him then He will strengthen us with all His might and give us patience and in our long suffering He will give us joy.

The prescription for living a successful, godly life has been given to each of us. All we have to do is discipline ourselves and choose to walk in it faithfully.

Part two on my next blog post.