"Football is not a matter of life and death, it is more important than that."
True worship
To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple Ps 27:4b
Do we seek God because of who he is or because of what he can give us? Is even our worship self-centred? The Psalmist seeks the giver not the gift. When I mention worship, of course this is much more than that hour in church on Sunday morning. It is our whole life including our sport. Are we seeking God in our sport? When we have successes in our sports life are they for our glory or God's?
It is so easy to worship God out of habit or a sense of duty. How rarely do we worship out of a desire to gaze on the beauty of the Lord!
Similarly as we tell people about Jesus, are we calling them to discover the beauty of God for ourselves - rather than listing the benefits of salvation as a salesman would?
The irony is, the more we seek God for himself, with our whole heart, the more we reap the benefits of that relationship. As we gaze on the beauty of the Lord and develop our relationship with him, we have a security and a confidence to face the challenges of life.
The more we understand who God is, the more we understand who we are. We realize that our significance is based on our relationship with him - not on our performance.
Lord, help us to seek and desire your beauty.