4,5 "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer."
1 Timothy 4:4,5(ESV)
Athlete, have you ever thought something like this, “After practice we will eat, do homework and then do something Christian and go to Bible study”?
I came across two interesting Scripture verses recently that fit well with 1 Timothy 4:4,5. One is Psalm 44:8 (NLV), “O God, we give glory to You all day long and constantly praise Your name.” The other is 1 Peter 1:15 (NIV), “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.”
In all things all day.
It is a constant temptation to think of following Jesus as one of many silos in our lives. But David, Paul and Peter indicate there are no “secular” and “sacred” compartments to our lives.
Since you are a spiritual being, you are helplessly spiritual 24/7. You are not just doing something “Christian” or “spiritual” when you go to a Bible study or church.
You are brushing up against the divine when you study, interact with others and play your sport.
In Him you move. In Him you have your being. (Acts 17:28)
What is more spiritual than a sanctuary in a uniform on consecrated legs? What is more spiritual than using “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16) to write a paper?
If sports and academics are not “Christian” activities, nothing is.
Athlete, since you are holy, sports and academics are holy. Since all things were created through and for Jesus (Colossians 1:16), there is an innate sanctity to all things.
I wonder if we have a hard time grasping this because we are inclined to think the physical is not spiritual.
Many Eastern religions exalt the immaterial and downgrade the body and physical world. They think the physical realm needs to be escaped or transcended in order to attain spirituality. Perhaps, that view has seeped into Christianity.
Keep in mind, Christians have the highest view of matter on the market.
God esteems matter repeatedly. Picture Jesus touching and healing bodies.
Think of physical creation, the incarnation and the new heavens and new earth. In God’s eyes those things are “good” and “spiritual,” and they are all physical.
Go back to that first sentence and rethink it ...
“After running on consecrated legs, we will eat God’s miraculous provisions courtesy of photosynthesis and quantum mechanics. We will taste that He is good. Then we will use our God-given brains to do homework. Then we will go to Bible study and sing and learn the particulars of God’s revelation.” That is more like it.
In all things all day.
Athlete, name two things you think are not spiritual. Rethink them.
