Read: James 1:19-27
I always enjoy the basketball season! Especially when the Illini have a chance to play in the NCAA tournament like this past season. There is also nothing quite like going to watch an intense high school basketball game or a game of grade school players trying to learn the pick and roll. As I have attended many basketball games in my life I have noticed myself saying one phrase more than any other. As the teams would come up the floor with the ball I would often say, “Take care of the ball!”
Obviously this comment would come from the realization that each possession was very important. In any sport there is a direct connection between turnovers and the final outcome of the game. The more I thought about that statement though, the more I realized that it connects with our daily lives as well. God has given each of us the gift of life and it is an act of good stewardship on our part to take care of it.
When it comes to taking care of ourselves the first thing most people think of is our health. It is important to eat healthy foods, exercise, and pay attention to the doctor’s orders. But there is also a spiritual element to this that is just as important or probably the most important.
In James 1:22-25 the Bible says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Those who listen to the word but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror and, after looking at themselves, go away and immediately forget what they look like. But those who look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continue in it, not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it, they will be blessed in what they do.”
With those words, James, the brother of Jesus is encouraging us to follow after, and not ignore God’s plan for our lives. He is instructing us to take care of what God has blessed us with and to use our lives to bring glory and praise to our creator. Just like many basketball teams, we tend to get careless at times. We do things that we know are against God’s will and we don’t pay close enough attention to how our decisions are affecting our lives as well as those closest to us. We would do well to remember each day that our spiritual life, our relationships, our finances, our possessions, and every part of our being are worth taking care of.
Make It Personal: God realizes that we are not perfect, and yet he desires for us to take care of this precious gift of life that he has given to us. God has created us in His image and has given us families, responsibilities, and a purpose in life. Maybe the next time we find ourselves forgetting about the face in the mirror or the life that we have been called to, we should whisper those words to ourselves, “Take care of it!”
Have a great week, Glen Rhodes
