Athletic Analogy

When I was a young; I played in a lot of sports.  I played football, baseball, and basketball. One of the most important qualities that our coaches tried to instill into us was discipline.  Everyone on the team had to know the part they played and be able to properly execute their job properly for the team as a whole to succeed. To do this, you had to show up at the practice every day.  You had to read, study, and know the playbook. You had to participate in the drills, and practice and work out on your own outside of the sport too.  



To be successful, you had to be committed to putting in your full effort.   If you did not put forth your full effort and give it your full attention, You would end up being an inconsistent and unreliable player.  In all likelihood you would be replaced as a starter by someone who was disciplined enough to do all the necessaries to make themselves and the team better.  The amount of effort and discipline you put in directly effected the amount of success you had.


This lesson was not just about sports, but it was about life in general.  In school being disciplined led to great success.  On the job, being well disciplined can mean promotions, opportunities, and responsibilities (as well as more cash).  Being disciplined in your eating will keep you healthy and trim.  Your amount of success in anything is equal to the amount of discipline you have in learning and perfecting whatever it is you have set out to do.


Of course, I found out the hard way that the opposite was true also.  If you are not disciplined enough to put forth the effort, failure was surely not far behind.  You certainly won't get that promotion if you have not even taken the time or effort to learn and master the one you are already working.  In fact, you could even lose your job if you are undisciplined.  Employers tend not to like employees who are regularly tardy and sloppy in their work. 


One area where many people tend to not think about discipline is in their faith.  There are a lot of sloppy christians out there who don't take their discipline much beyond making it to church most Sundays.  We Christians tend to get lazy in our faith.  Let go and let God is a common phrase.  While there may be a time and a place where that is necesary, that is not what the walk of a Christian should be.  From our very creation we were given things to do, and we needed to be disciplined enough to do it. Well, that didn't quite work out, huh? Chaos ensued.


I am not a person of great discipline myself.  Somewhere since my youth I lost it.  Although, I never really had a lot of pressure to be disciplined in what I did.   It has been on my heart recently though that discipline is important in the life of the believer.  I've been nagged by little things like, Do I pray consistently?  Read my bible consistently?  While I can say ye

s, sort of; it is not like I have a time set aside to do so.  As a result, there are days where I forget a prayer, or slip away from my bible studies for a while.  I hear of and have known folks though who will pray or study at the exact same time every day.


To me though, I have to harken back to my youth sports days.  I feel like there should be a set time for practices (prayer, praise, study, etc..), that we need to study our playbook (the Bible), and that we need to be fully prepared for that time that we are put in the game so that we may be successful at what we do and help our team to win.  Without the discipline to practice and prepare, we will not be ready for the time God wants to put us in the game.  We don't want to be just bench warmers, do we? Don't we all want to get in the game and help our team win?  ( I hope you are all shouting in agreement)


Let's get in that playbook (bible) and learn the plays (what we are expected to do).  Learn what the rules are so you are not committing dumb penalties (sinning).  Those rules are not just there to be looked at.  They are expected to be followed and you will get flagged for violating them.  Talk (pray) to the coach (God).  Find out what position you are supposed to play and how you can play that position to help the team.  Make sure you are on time to practices and games.  Wear the proper equipment (Ephesians 6).  And give it your all.


I know, getting started is the hardest part.  Training camp is a time where you get yourself in shape, get yourself game ready.  It is where you do the basics over and over until they become second nature, where you don't have to think about what to do twice as it has become instinct.  It can be hard work and some days you just don't feel like doing it, but to make the team and avoid being cut, you have to be disciplined and persevere.  You can do it though, and before you know it, you'll be in the regular season.