“His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night” — Psalm 1:2
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.” — 2 Peter 3:18
There is something refreshing about watching children learn to play a sport for the first time. At best, they possess a basic skill set, have minimal understanding of strategy, and probably don’t even know all the rules of the game they are playing. But they do know what the goal is and they pursue it with every ounce of effort they can muster. What they lack in knowledge of the game is made up for with passion.
An individual who has found Jesus for the first time is the same. They aren’t familiar with all the doctrine of the Christian faith or the strategies for living a life that pleases their newly found Savior, but their desire to know and experience God is contagious and energizing to all they come in contact with. No matter how long we have been a Christian, the Bible encourages us to always be excited about our faith and to find joy and delight in God and His Word day and night. We are meant to live with a childlike excitement as we daily remind ourselves of what Christ has done for us.
At the same time we are also encouraged to increase our knowledge of who God is in order to become the disciples He has created us to be, and to enjoy the abundant life we are on this earth for. Peter said to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
If we are still “newborn” in our faith after many years of calling ourselves Christian, something is wrong. We should be able to look back over our years of following Jesus and be able to see growth that has taken place in our lives for the glory of God. Watching beginners play a sport is fun when the participants are young, but how entertaining is it watching adults with the same beginner knowledge and skill set? With all of our heart we must seek first the Kingdom of God to allow the One who made us His child to mold, shape and mature.
Let’s live for God our Father with the fresh passion and delight of a child while seeking to grow and learn all we can about the One who created us and who loves us enough to die for us!
— Craig Nixon
If you would like to submit a reader devotional, please email all submissions to jason@sportsspectrum.com.
