Daily Devotional: Closer to God Every Day

Day 63: NFL, NBA, NHL

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” -Matthew 7:21-23

What do each of the acronyms (NFL, NBA, NHL) have in common? Well, each of them represent assorted professional sports teams. If we dig a little deeper, what will we find? We will find players, coaches, Super Bowls, game nights, and, oh yeah: fans. Fans are a huge part of sports. In fact, they might be the most important part of the franchise. Without fans, corporations fall. Fans hold a great purpose. They’re admirers. When a sports team is faring well, many fans bandwagon. They buy jerseys repping team members and even tune in to watch games on ESPN. But many fans hold one major flaw: their admiration is temporary. When a team begins trailing behind in the rankings, they forget the ones they once loved. When the sport is out of season, they may still be a fan of the sport, but they don’t have a constant love for it any longer. They forget about it until it resurfaces to be “in season”.

I have used this as a parallel to better understand Christianity. Many of us call ourselves devoted followers of Christ when many of us are nothing more than mere “in season” fans. For years, I thought that I was a devoted follower of Christ. I was certain that my love for him would never waver or falter under hard times. And for the most part, it didn’t. That’s when I started to find faults in my relationship with God. In this present moment, I have started to reconsider the fact that I might just be a “fan”. As my life has slowly filled itself with more joy and peace, I have not had a great clinging to God. With that, I have not opened up my Bible every day or talked to him in as intimate a manner as I once have. By reevaluating my relationship with my heavenly Father, I have come to the conclusion that I am just a fan. I have great admiration for God, but as times have eased for me, I have forgotten to rely on his very being each and every day. The good news is that being a fan is not an occupation that is set in stone. In fact, realizing that you are “just a fan” is something to be praised. It means that you are mature enough to realize that you do not have everything figured out and that you need to do something urgently to strengthen your bond with God. My thoughts are still stars that I can’t fathom into constellations (hence, The Fault in Our Stars reference), but that doesn’t mean that they are impossible to sort through. Even if my relationship with God is not at its strongest, I still hold hope that I can build it to a place of unshakable strength. I will keep you all updated with my progress! God, be with all of us who desire to be more than a fan but need the strength to take that first step! I love you.

-Katelyn