Dec
20
Play to Win
Filed Under Devotional
I made an interesting observation over the last week. I watched two different basketball games with my favorite team. In the first game, my guys couldn’t put the other team away and it went to double overtime. The star on my team had his biggest game of his young career by putting up 38 points, nine assists, and four rebounds. In the last seconds, though, the game slipped away. His career night was mentioned a bit, but the team was still down about losing a game they should have won.
Almost a week later, this same guy set a new career high of 52 points along with six assists and five rebounds. This time, though, they won the game. I spent the better part of the next morning reading articles from various outlets going on and on about him as a player and the team. The career high was the top part of all the stories. The enthusiasm was higher. The buzz was louder.
When interviewed, he kept saying that while he was excited to have played that well, it was winning the game that was important. I love players with that attitude. I’ve seen too many that want to fill in the stat sheet, but don’t think much about winning games or having a successful team.
I’m reminded that we can think about ourselves and aim for a life that fills the stat sheet, but that won’t get us the championship ring.
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24
“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14
You can play to look good or you can play to win. The good news is that we know which team wins in the end. The question is whether you want to play for that team or not.
To paraphrase Paul, play the game in such a way as to win the prize. That’s all that really matters.