SOONER OR GATOR?
Father, thank You for bringing me to this place and this time today. I ask You to speak to me right now, and to let Your Word breathe life into my heart. Please use these next few moments to bring me to more of a fullness of You and to learn more of Your Glory and how to leave the footprints of Jesus everywhere I go today. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen!
Read Matthew 5:14-16
This last month my OU Sooners lost a hard fought game against the Florida Gators for the college football championship. Both quarterbacks are outstanding athletes and from all reports good people. Both claim to follow Christ and both show examples of this in their life. The qb for the Gators always has a verse inscribed on his eye black and cannot go longer than a sentence in an interview without reminding us the he follows Christ. The opposing qb is quieter and lives his faith out primarily with his actions rather than words. Now I do not want this be seen as criticism of the Florida player. If that is what God has impressed on his heart to do, and how to live then he should by all means keep living that way. However I do not think that is how God calls most of us to shine our light into darkness.
The last verse of this passage says that we are to let our light shine in a way that does not call attention to ourselves yet points others directly to God. I can easily illustrate this with a critique of the on field performance of the two aforementioned quarterbacks.
The Florida offense completely revolves around their qb. He is central to every play and is the star whether it is a run or a pass. The Sooner’s field general however is more of a distributer and lets his teammates abilities outshine his own. I do not think I am alone in this opinion. I heard multitudes of sports commentators say similar things as the postseason player of the year awards loomed. The athlete from Florida was praised for doing it all on his own and being the shining star, where the player from Oklahoma was at times faulted for making his teammates looking so good.
I do not want any of the above to be seen as an attack on the University of Florida or any of their incredible student-athletes, I am simply trying to illustrate this verse. You see I think Jesus is calling us to be more like the Sooner qb. He wants us to be great. He says He wants our deeds to be worthy of praise. Now I do not think we can have good deeds deserving of praise if we are being mediocre. He further says He wants our deeds to be done in a way that the praise does not come back on us, but is turned to the Father.
Today I want you to be great, but do so in an unassuming way and let God receive the ultimate glory for it.
Leave His footprints as you walk today!
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