"Play Like A Champion Today"

So driving to work this morning, I found myself behind a car with that bumper sticker on it. "Play Like A Champion Today." I really liked that. So many times in life we play to get by or to make it to the next game, but that's no way to really succeed in life. To be champions, we have to fight for it. I hate to quote Nick Saban here, but he says that the true quality of a team cannot be measured until they've faced adversity. Looking at how you face adversity reveals the mark of a true champion.

Psalm 118:8-9 "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes."

You see, the world around us is great about providing adversity. It tests us. It constantly throws things our way that are way bigger and way more than we can handle on our own. A true champion is someone who can turn to Jesus to rise above the hits thrown his way. It's easy to let the world get a hold of us and pull us down to its level, but God isn't about "easy." Do you think it was easy to create the entire universe in 6 days? Do you think it was easy to later completely flood out all of His creation? Do you think it was easy to watch His Son willingly sacrifice His life for sins He never committed?

"It is better to take refuge in the LORD." When ships pass through storms, they seek out the nearest harbor for safe refuge. Likewise, as we pass through storms, we run inside or grab our umbrellas to protect us from the elements. How does Jesus respond to a storm? We see that in Mark 4:39: "He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm."

So Jesus just stands against the storm and puts it in its place. But we run from storms to seek safety. Why? Wouldn't it stand to follow that if Jesus has the power to calm storms, and that we are nothing more than a suit of clothes for Him to walk around in, that we have no need to flee from adversity? The only thing we have to run from is ourselves, allowing Jesus to take the helm of our ship and right our course. That's what He did when He gave His life on the cross, and that's His greatest desire - total submission to the Father.

Proverbs 28:2 "When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.

You see, when we let things besides Jesus take the wheel (yes, I said it), that's when things spiral out of control. Having many rulers will bring about rebellion. This goes along with what I was talking about the other day regarding being simplehearted. Clearing ourselves of, well, ourselves, is a must. Remember how I was talking about the medicines that transplant patients take? Well, they're called immunosuppressants. Big word for a blog, I know, but what they do is turn off your body's natural responses so that the new organ can function. That's what we need to do. We have to turn off our natural selves, our desire to lead our own lives, and let Christ's heart guide our journey.

What is it about understanding and knowledge that brings order? Is it that we know everything about what's going on around us? No. Is it that we know what obstacles are going to come our way? No. It's that we know that obstacles are coming our way, that the sea is churning, and that we cannot possibly stop the storm ourselves. It's knowing that we are not in control and that we couldn't even begin to handle the control if we had it.

James 3:13-18 "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such 'wisdom' does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."

Going into the medical field, a lot of value is placed on wisdom. There is both the knowledge that comes from learning and the wisdom that comes from experience. All of my days are spent trying to amass more of that wisdom so that I can not only save a patient's life one day, but also so that I can impress my supervisors. There's the hitch, though. Part of training in the medical field is, unfortunately, impressing those above you. That's selfish ambition if I ever did hear it. And what comes from selfish ambition? Evil practice. Now I don't know about y'all, but I definitely don't want an evil practice when I'm done with this.

It's time to forget about trying to impress anyone. The only person who's opinion really matters, well, I've already got His approval through the blood of His Son. And any wisdom He wants me to have He will provide. I like the seven criteria for His wisdom: (1) pure, (2) peace-loving, (3) considerate, (4) submissive, (5) full of mercy and good fruit, (6) impartial, and (7) sincere. That's what my education should be about - gaining those seven virtues. That one day, as I practice on my own, no one will ever question where I'm coming from and everyone will know the seven-fold foundation of my knowledge.

Final Thoughts

The way to a national championship is through touchdowns. Seven points (including the point-after). Well, God has given us His set of seven points for wisdom. Our wisdom is to be pure. It is to be peace-loving and considerate. It is to be submissive and full of mercy and good fruit. It is to be impartial and sincere. Forget learning facts. He doesn't need us to learn facts because He already knows them and He will provide them to us when we need them. We should instead be focusing on getting those seven points on the board. We're in the "red zone" and it's time to make it count.