10-8-2015

Good Morning All!!

         Matthew 6:34; “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

      It is an old sports maxim.  “You play them one game at a time.”  Every sport has some sort of final champion; every player wants to play in, and win, the championship.  Baseball has the World Series, Football has the Super Bowl.  Hockey has the Stanley Cup.  Every athlete, from the littlest starter to the most experienced professional dreams of playing in their championship.  Yet during the season, you cannot look ahead; because if you look out ahead the opponent you play today has a better chance of winning.  It is imperative that you focus on today’s game, on today’s opponent.  It really is somewhat ironic; you accomplish your best long term goals by focusing on your short term actions. 

    If your coach was really a fanatic about it, he encouraged to try to win each pitch, or each time the football was snapped, or each time you had the ball on offense.  He didn’t even worry about the whole game; he wanted you to focus on each play; not the last one and not the next one but on this one.  He did this to keep the challenge simple.  You focused on this one; if it went poorly you focused on the next one and let the failed one go away and you don’t worry about the whole task of the whole game.  When your focus is too long term, you see how difficult and daunting the task is but when you focus on just this play; it becomes manageable.

    So Jesus, in essence, tells us the same thing; focus on today.  Focus on the things you can control today.  Follow the Spirit and try to not sin today.  Don’t worry about tomorrow or next week; just focus on today.  This is a technique used by people who are battling addictions.  They focus on one day at a time, maybe even an hour at a time.  Their goal is to succeed over the next hour and then they look to the next hour.

    Maybe you feel the same way about a sin that attracts you, tempts you and seems to grab hold of you.  When we confess, we are quick to say, “I’ll never do it again!”  What we should say is, “please Lord, keep me clean for the next hour, amen.”  Keep it manageable and as you struggle with each hour, remember your brothers and sisters in Christ have the exact same struggle one hour at a time.  So pray for you brothers and sisters and remember that they struggle like you struggle; so they need to hear God’s Word of forgiveness just like you need to hear it. 

    So walk together and encourage each other, one day, one hour, at a time.  Pray for each other, struggle together and live in God’s amazing grace together as one people before God.

Father of mercy, I need you every hour please do not leave me.  Give me courage to walk today as your child.  Lead me to follow your will this day with all my heart.  Guard and protect me this day so that the evil foe will have no power over me.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret