PLAYBOOK DEVOTIONAL
Athlete, Simply Obey God
Liz Newell
Ephesians 3:6 (ESV)
This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
It was a hot, humid Louisiana preseason. I can so vividly remember sitting in my coach’s office asking him for the millionth time, “Coach, what am I doing wrong?” His reply was yet another creative way to tell me that I simply needed to quit overthinking things and have more self confidence in my ability to get the job done.
Taking every word he said with a grain of salt, still, I overthought his comments to the point where I would psych myself out and end up messing up what was supposed to be something so elementary.
The same can happen when it comes to reading and explaining God’s Word. Many times I find that we look and look for a deeper meaning or deeper answer as if we think God is out to trick us or expose something about Himself that is hidden.
While it is true that we as humans will never be able to fully comprehend God, His ultimate will is explicitly stated throughout Scripture.
God desires, from the beginning of creation for ALL to know Him personally, Jew and Gentile. This “mystery” that we try so hard to solve by our own power is that no one person is more deserving of Christ’s love than another.
We as believers are ALL “partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
This concept is not far reaching. It was plan A all along. So how do we live it out? I challenge you, Christian, to initiate “wondering” conversations with those who are different than you. Ask them what sport they play, how their day is going, what music they like to listen to, where they are from, etc.
Make the effort to get to know someone other than yourself this week! If you find this to be challenging, you may be overthinking it. Though it may take great effort, I promise it is not as hard as it looks!
God’s Word says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19,20).
Christian, obey God’s command. You might be surprised what will come out of it!