Friday Night Lights
He that hath no cross deserves no crown.
Quarles
I love this time of year. I love gathering under the stadium lights and watching our boys play football. I love the crispness that returns to the evening air after a long, hot summer. I love the sounds of the game: the band playing our fight song, the cheerleaders cheering, the roar of the fans, the crashing of helmets and pads when unstoppable forces meet immovable objects... and, in Happy Texas, the clanging of ball bearings and shouts of Super Fan!
One of the things I really like about football, and sports in general for that matter, is the hard work, devotion and determination that are required to play it. We all know that it's just a game (though we rarely act like we know) but you have to appreciate the effort that goes into playing this game.
Our boys start in late summer with two-a-day practices that have a way of instantly convincing them that their summer on the tractor wasn't all that hard of work after all. They move into pads and start hitting one another - far more times that the other team will ever hit them. They spend hours in the weight room and hitting the tires and running endless wind sprints. The coaches spend hundreds of hours watching films and putting the team together just so, only to have to start all over again when Johnny breaks his collar bone and Jimmy's family transfers.
But, on game nights, the young men and coaches and fans watch their hard work pay off. They don't win every time, but more often, they do. If you were to ask these young men if the game was worth all of the pain and work and sacrifice, they would probably look at you as if you were crazy. They wouldn't want to be doing anything else. It is a privilege and an honor to play. The sacrifice is nothing. They live for the joy of the game.
Can you imagine if our service to God was approached with this kind of passion and willingness to do hard things? Can you imagine what the church would be like if Christians looked forward to the challenge of hard work and maximum effort? Can you imagine if, despite the bruises and pain and disappointments of life, that people kept on going because they recognized the privilege and honor of serving the Master? Can you imagine if the sacrifices that we are called to make were nothing to us, because of our love of God and joy of service? Why, it would be Heaven!
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 9:23, KJV
