Read: Revelation 3:14-22
This past Monday night when the final buzzer sounded on the NCAA Basketball Championship game the Virginia Cavaliers walked away with the trophy. It was a tight game that went into overtime with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, but coach Tony Bennett and his team won the championship and ended the season with a record of 29-2.
Coach Bennett is known as a great basketball coach, but he would be the first to tell you that his Christian faith and his family come before his profession. In fact, his faith guides his approach to coaching and how he relates to his players. He is “all in” as a follower of Jesus and he carries that passion into his calling as a coach. Tony and his team learned a valuable lesson in last year’s tournament when they were upset and became the first number one seed to ever lose a first round game in NCAA history.
That loss inspired them to not become lukewarm in their approach and preparation for this year’s tournament. When they found themselves down by 14 points in the first round, coach Bennett told his players, “I can accept losing, but I can’t accept anything less than every single thing we have to give.” In other words, stay true, stay committed, stay strong, and give it your best.
In Revelation 3, the letter to the church in Laodicea is a warning about becoming lukewarm in our faith and our commitment to God. In these verses Jesus is encouraging us to stay true, stay committed, stay strong, and give our best to God. As coach Bennett said, we can accept what may come in life but we need to have our priorities in line and give God our best. That includes our faith, our attitude, our time, our finances, our church, and our family and friends. We should give nothing less than our all!
Make it Personal: How do you assess things in your life right now? Are you giving your best to God, to Jesus, to your family, to your church, to your job? Pray to Christ and ask him to help you from becoming complacent or lukewarm in any area of your life.
Have a blessed week everyone,Pastor Glen Rhodes
