We all know people who start well but always seem to end poorly. Somewhere between the starting line and the finish line, something went wrong, causing a poor finish. I was a sprinter in my younger days. How I started the race was important but running a smart race and ending well most determined whether or not I won the race.

Living in a broken world, one more fractured every day, it is hard to stay on track and not find ourselves getting derailed. It takes great determination and focus. It takes saying yes when yes is required, and no when no is required, regardless of the blowback by others. It takes living a life guided by rule and reign of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. It takes a clear sense of your purpose and calling. It takes a teachable, humble, and obedient heart. It takes the help of others. It takes an infusion of intentionality and effort to not allow the trappings of the world to gain hold in our life. In other words, it is not easy.

The apostle Paul gives us a model for running a good race, and for finishing well. In Philippians, he compares the Christian life to a race. Before continuing, either grab your Bible and read Philippians 3:12-14 or click here to read the passage. [As a side note: I used this biblical text as the basis for my very first sermon preached, some twenty-five years ago.]

I see v.12 talking about attitude. Paul realizes that his Christian conversion helped him to re-prioritize his life. It gave him a new assessment of his goals and an overwhelming desire to know Jesus more fully. Paul knows he must continue to pursue the plan God has laid out for him. Paul knows that it is not himself who supplies the resources to “press on,” but rather it will be Jesus who supplies those resources, energized by the Spirit.

In v.13 the emphasis is on focus. Again, Paul does not claim to have obtained his final goal – a full knowledge of Jesus and conformity to Him. The “one thing” he talks about is his passion for living the Christian life. Running a race that involves the relentless centering of his focus and energy on the course ahead of him. It involves effort, being focused on becoming more like Jesus. Forgetting does not mean wiping his past from his memory but instead, a conscious effort to not allow it to absorb his attention and slow his progress.

And finally, in v.14, we are called to stretch. Paul compares the Christian life to pressing on and stretching for the finish line. “Pressing on” is not easy and requires pushing past his comfort zone, ignoring the pain. This prize referred to is not simply eternal life. It is that but also dying to that self-centered life that is natural to all of us and our willingness to press on in living, and sharing, our new Christ-centered life.

The Christian life is not easy. It is hard to have the right attitude, to stay focused, and to keep stretching (pressing on), when most of the culture pushes us in the opposite direction. It is hard to have, and keep, Jesus in every aspect of our lives.

We find these words in 2 Timothy – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (4:7).

So, right now, either for the first time, or the umpteenth time, ask Jesus to be the center of your life, submit fully to Him, and then do not look back. Commit to not just running the race but running it well, running it to win, finishing well!

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We are just hours away from the kickoff of Super Bowl LIX, arguably the biggest sporting event of the year. This year’s game, being played at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, is between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Swifties, oh sorry, I mean Chiefs, who are hoping to become the first team to three-peat in the Super Bowl era. The Green Bay Packers are the only team to win three NFL championships in a row. They won the NFL championship in 1965 and then won the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967.

The game that we now know as the Super Bowl was created as part of the 1966 merger agreement between the NFL and the competing league, AFL. The game was originally called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. The Super Bowl moniker was adopted in 1969, Super Bowl III, in which “Broadway” Joe Namath guaranteed his New York Jets would beat the NFL’s Baltimore Colts, and did so 16-7.  

Not only will more than one hundred million viewers watch the game on television, the amount of food and beverage consumed is second only to Thanksgiving for food consumed in one day. According to the National Chicken Council, Americans will consume well in excess of one billion chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday. Those wings, along with cold cut subs, pizza, chili, and potato chips and dip, will be washed down with more than 300 million gallons of beer. Not surprisingly, antacid sales dramatically increase on the Monday following the big game.   

You might be a fan of one of the two teams, maybe you are simply enjoy the game of football, it could be you watch the game just to see the commercials, or possibly you are looking forward to the halftime show headlined by Kendrick Lamar. It was in the early 1990s that pop music acts began to perform at halftime, first with New Kids On The Block in 1991 and then Gloria Estefan the following year, but it wasn’t until Michael Jackson took the stage in 1993 that the halftime show began to morph into the spectacle it is today. It was during 2004 halftime show that the world witnessed Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction.”  

During this year’s Super Bowl, ordinary people will turn fanatical and pour every ounce of their existence into cheering for their team. Not only that, but many will also be dressed from head to toe in their team’s logo gear. But when the game is over, and the last chicken wing is eaten and the last swig of beer swallowed, these fanatics become ordinary people again, with ordinary lives, ordinary families, ordinary jobs. The word “fan,” shortened version of fanatic, is defined as an “a person who is extremely enthusiastic about or devoted to some interest or activity.”

Sadly, many of us relate to Jesus that same way. For an hour or so when we go to church or small group meetings we are like those fans during the Super Bowl; we go wild for Jesus, but when the service is over, we go home and become “normal” again.

Fans cheer while followers learn from their teacher and then help in spreading the good news of that teacher. Jesus calls us to be more than fans. He calls us to be followers (disciples). The dictionary defines a disciple as “a pupil or follower of any teacher or school of learning, religion, art, etc. and one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrine of that teacher.” This person is a convinced adherent. So, in other words, a disciple of Jesus is someone who seeks His guidance, follows His plans, and then shares that goodness with everyone they meet.

So, today, be a fan of your favorite team and cheer like mad during the Super Bowl. Also, commit yourself to being a disciple of Jesus, allowing Him to change you and in the process begin to make you more like Him. Don’t just be a fan of Jesus, be His follower!

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I recently needed to buy some new blue jeans. My wife and I picked out several pairs and went off to the dressing room. Once in my little stall, I immediately put on one of the pairs I brought in with me. Even those they were my size, I struggled to get them on. I took that pair off and the next pair I tried on, same problem. It was then that I realized I had not taken off the jeans I had worn into the dressing room.

It would be foolish to try on new jeans simply by pulling them on over the old ones. They aren’t going to fit properly. You might be thinking, “Of course I would never do that.” But those of us that are followers of Jesus often try to fit the new life Jesus calls us to over our old life. And just like those new jeans, it will not fit, no matter how hard we try, no matter how hard we pull or wiggle our hips.

In Ephesians 4:22-24, the apostle Paul is encouraging his readers (and us today) to be renewed in mind and to live according to the new nature that God us making, an image in God’s likeness. This renewing comes by the power of the Holy Spirit when we submit our will to His. Here is what we read – “You were taught, with regard to your former self, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitudes of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

I think these verses tell us three things about this new self, this new nature. First, we are to completely discard the old self; put off the old self. The Greek word used here means “to lay aside.” He calls us to lay aside those old jeans, no matter how much we like them. Second, Paul calls us to a radical reorientation in both mind and spirit (made new in attitude). And lastly, this nature we have in Christ is completely new, not refurnished. Our old jeans are not to be patched or sewn; instead, they are thrown away and replaced by a brand new pair. Paul says that righteousness and holiness, which are qualities of God, are reproduced in his genuine worshippers. (In this context, “holiness” is free from contamination. This particular meaning is only found two places in the NT; here and Luke 1:75.)

This new self can only come under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We play a part in laying aside the old self, but without the Spirit’s transforming power, we are unable to change ourselves. David knew this — after being confronted by the prophet Nathan calling David to repentance after his adulteress affair and coverup, David cried out to God: “Create in me a clean (pure; as in not dirty) heart, O God, and renew a right spirit (new self) in me” (Psalm 51:10).

This new self is a new identity; one given to us by Jesus.

So, today I ask you: What “old jeans” do you need take off that are holding you back from being the new person God is desiring to make you into?

Dear Father, please put Your finger on those areas in our lives that are old and need to be made new. Help us throw off those things and in the process make us more like You. Amen

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Rodney Dangerfield regularly said, “I don’t get no respect” in his comedy routines. Respect is something we all desire. Think of that person in your life whom you deeply respect; that someone you look up to. It could be someone you know – family member, friend, teacher, coach, pastor, or co-worker. Or maybe that person is someone afar – world leader, business leader, celebrity, or athlete. You likely respect them because of what they have accomplished or how they conduct their life. This person is not someone simply respected because of who they are, but rather, they have earned your respect. Who are those people in your life?

It is also true that respect is fleeting. Sometimes the people we respect end up “unearning” our respect, for any number of reasons, some deserved, other not so deserved. Can you think of someone like that in your own life? Maybe you were that person to someone else. We are a culture that enjoys putting people upon pedestals and sadly we also get satisfaction from watching them fall off that pedestal and shatter into pieces.

While we mostly honor people for the things they say and do, we are called to honor God simply because He is God. In teaching us how the pray, Jesus starts off his prayer like this – “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9). The word hallowed is not one we typically use in everyday language, yet most modern version of the Bible retain it. It comes from the Greek word hagiazó, and is the passive voice of the verb, meaning “to treat as holy.”

Notice that Jesus does not begin by saying something along the lines of “Our Father in heaven, because you do good things, because You are faithful, because You are trustworthy, may You be honored.” Instead, Jesus acknowledges that the Name of God is hallowed, simply because of who God is. Jesus is saying, “Let your Name be holy.” What name? God’s Divine Name, his Personal Name, the name he revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. That name is YHWH, Yahweh, or the Latinized name, Jehovah (JeHoWaH).

God’s Name is holy because God is holy, not by what He does, but instead, because of who He is. In saying “hallowed by Your name,” Jesus is not referencing God’s reputation. He is instead calling us to recognize God and His Name to be holy, and someone who we can personally address as such, without fear of it being fleeting or temporary reverence.

So, while those people we respect occasionally lose our respect and shatter into pieces, you can forever be assured that God is worthy to be praised, simply because His name is hallowed. There is none like Him. Psalm 33:8 says this, “Let all the earth fear [convey a sense of wonder and delight, not wanting to disappoint] the LORD, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!”

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We all know that our bodies need adequate water in order to function properly. On average, up to 60% of an adult human body is water. Newborn babies are About 75% water. But did you know that healthy human bones are nearly one-third water? In order to not become brittle, our bones also need proper hydration.

We say something is bone-dry when it is without a trace of moisture. Think of a riverbed during a drought. All we see is parched and cracked land. Not much grows in those conditions. It lacks nutrients. It lacks health. Let me ask you – Do you feel dry?  

Let me ask it again this way – Do you have dry bones? Has life drained you of your joy and your energy? Do you feel as if you are in the desert, with no water or shade anywhere to be found? There is no embarrassment in being dry, having dry bones. Life is hard; it can at times suck you and me dry. We have all been there. I know I have and maybe you are there right now. There are also times when we feel spiritually dry, the notion of being distant from God.

There are any number of reasons for feeling spiritually dry, but in my opinion, generally speaking, they fall into three categories – (1) unconfessed sin; (2) physical, mental, emotional pain or trauma; (3) God allowing us to wander in the dry wilderness in order to prepare us for something down the road or before he intervenes in some powerful way. Regardless of the reason, when we feel distant from God, we feel dry, dry all the way to our bones. In those seasons of spiritual dryness, we should follow the wisdom found in Psalm 63:1 – “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

What do you do, where do you turn, when you need life breathed back into you? We all have our ways. Some methods we use are healthy, but sadly, others are not so healthy. Some methods help us for days, weeks, maybe even months, while others, they only last a few brief moments. And still others, they just don’t work at all.

The three persons of the Triune God (triune meaning three in one in unity) – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – work hand in hand in all things. They are the perfect trifecta to lead, guide, and direct you in all things. I like to think of the Father as the initiator, Jesus as the implementer, and the Holy Spirit as the energizer.

When Jesus was explaining to His disciples that He would be leaving them, He promised another Helper; the Holy Spirit (see John 14:16, 26). The Greek word for what has been translated in our modern Bibles as Helper, Counselor, Advocate is “Paraclete,” which means “called to one’s side, one’s aid.” Think para-medic, someone who comes to your side to give emergency medical care.

The Spirit has many roles. I want to simply look at one here. One of His roles is to breathe life into you and into me. The Old Testament Hebrew word for God’s Spirit is “ruach” and in the New Testament (Greek) the word is “pneuma,” both meaning wind or breath.

In a vision to Ezekiel in which the prophet sees himself standing in a valley of dry bones, we find these words- Then he (Lord) said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath (ruach) enter you, and you will come to life’” (37:4-5).

Did it work? You be in judge. In v.10 we read- “So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.”

So, today, if you feel spiritually dry, if you have dry bones, continue seeking after God (Psalm 63:1) and ask the Holy Spirit to blow life into you. And keep asking, tomorrow, the next day, and every day after that!

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Have you ever been someplace where it was so loud that it was impossible to talk to the person next to you? In fact, after leaving, you say to that person, “It was so loud I couldn’t hear myself think.” Just curious, what does thinking sound like anyway?

Now, picture meeting your college roommate, whom you have not seen in many years, for coffee. You get to the coffee shop early and immediately look for a table in the corner, away from people, near the beautiful art that hangs on the wall. My wife and I do date night every week, usually going out to one of our favorite restaurants. If we can, we ask for a table away from the constant flow of people. Does the coffee or the food taste better at those faraway tables? Of course not. But to have quality time with the other person, without too much distraction and background noise, we often need to look for quiet places. 

The same can be said of our conversations with God. While it is true that God can speak to us in noisy rooms, in crowded coffee shops, in busy restaurants, and just about any other place, we often struggle to hear Him due to the endless distractions and interruptions. The problem is not God’s ability to speak, the problem is us being able to listen. Most often, God is not the loudest voice in the room. (Read 1 Kings 19:1:13, paying particular attention to vv.11-13.)

Throughout His life, Jesus withdrew from people, daily life activities, and the demands of his ministry to be alone with the Father and pray. After He heard that John the Baptist had been beheaded, we are told “he withdrew privately by boat to a solitary place” (Matthew 14:13). In Mark 1:35, here is what we read – “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” And on the night before His death, in the quietness of the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there [to a quiet place] and pray” (Matthew 26:36).

Even as the crowds grew, and He got busier and busier, Jesus knew he still needed to regularly get away from the noise and the people, simply to be alone with His Father. We find this in Luke 5:15-16 (GNT) – “But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases. But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.”

Quiet time is also simply being silent and still in God’s presence, listening, meditating on His Word. We read this in Zechariah 2:13 – “Everyone, be silent! The LORD is present and moving about in his holy place.” Psalm 46:10 begins like this – “Be still, and know that I am God.”

If you want to hear God and allow Him to speak to you, lead you, guide you, and direct your steps, then it is imperative to carve out time to be alone with Him, without interruption, without distraction.

So, where is your table for two?

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