I Samuel 2:30b (NASB)

“…those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.”

In the 2005 football season of the Columbus Crusaders the team was experiencing a mid-season slump.  They were playing with very little emotion and almost no passion.  The program’s motto is “Honor Jesus” but they weren’t playing like it. A player, Jon Patton, came to head coach Mike Stanley one day before practice and said, “Coach, I realize what my problem is.  I am leaving Jesus in the locker room”.  He went on to explain that the chapels and small groups were helping him to focus on Jesus and honor Him in those settings, but he wasn’t taking Jesus to the field.

Mike asked Jon to address the team that afternoon.  Mike felt the coaches and players alike were acting like the people described in Isaiah 29:13.  “Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.”  Jon spoke and shared that they needed to take Jesus to the field with them.  They did!

The Crusaders didn’t win every game but they played as if they were doing everything for Jesus.  They honored God and He honored them by letting they have more fun, more joy, more passion and more enthusiasm playing the game they all loved.  Honor God and He will honor you!

Questions
1.    What are some practical ways we can Honor God with our play?
2.    How can we take Jesus to the field?