Richard and his 12 year-old son Danny are huge sports fans.
They were very excited when Jacksonville acquired its own pro soccer team.
Danny was excited about the first game, being that his
father had gotten tickets for them to attend the inaugural celebratory game. Danny couldn’t
sleep the night before.
When they arrived to the stadium the following afternoon, the
stadium was filled with joy and excitement. There were mascots and cheerleaders
running about the field during pregame warm-ups as the music blared from the
stadium’s speakers. Danny was awed by the environment.
When the game began, Danny noticed that a lot of the action happened
in the middle of the field. He also realized that the goalie was not involved
in a lot of the commotion that took place during the game. He continued to
watch the goalies at each ends of the field and realized that goalies were only
engaged when the team of opposition approached the area that could lead to a
score. Danny also noticed that for the majority of the time, the players were so
occupied with advancing the ball around the opposition in the middle of the
field that very seldom did either team have a real shot of scoring a goal.
On the ride home, Danny articulated his observations to his
father. Because Richard taught Bible Study at his church, he used Danny’s
observations to articulate a message in his next Bible meeting.
Richard iterated to his class the importance of
responsibility and accountability on our daily walks with Christ. He began speaking
on how we often make excuses for our iniquities and use the enemy as a
scapegoat for our shortcomings. He added that we blame Satan for our downward
spirals into sin when that should not be the case.
You see brothers and sisters, the world can be seen as a
soccer field. The commotion happens in the middle of the field. Satan
strategically places temptations and influence onto the field that serves as
his opposition to all. We become so focused upon what’s in the middle of the field
that we forget about the goals that lay at the ends of the field.
As does the goalies in a soccer game, Satan is completely disengaged
while we are busy fighting battles in the middle of the playing field. Satan is
powerless and manipulative, yet we give him all the credit for our defeat. We frequently say cliché things such as “The devil sure is busy”, but the truth of the matter
is, we are just as busy!
GOD loved us so much that He gave us our own free will to
choose. Satan is not allowed to do anything that GOD does not do himself. Satan
doesn’t make us commit sin, we make us commit sin. Life is a soccer field of
oppositions that were created to distract us from reaching the goal. When we
get in scoring distance, which is walking with Christ, the goalie (i.e. Satan)
becomes actively engaged in blocking the success of our goal.
Most of us are not even close to the goal. We are still
occupied by the distractions in the middle of the field, thus receiving no real
attention from the goalie himself. We are of no threat to the goalie as long as
we fail to navigate the temptations and influence that lie in wait at the
middle of the field. The goalie engages those who are a threat to score. In
other words, we are not on Satan’s radar if we are still fighting battles in
the middle of the field.
Sins, like most things, are decisions that we make. Satan
does not force us to do anything because it’s against the rules of the game. We
should be focused on putting ourselves in scoring distance and not blaming the
goalie for doing his job. If the goalie is not engaged, then we are far from
reaching the goal. Become a threat to score today!
Today’s Bible Verses:
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who
are perishing.
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,
so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of
darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of
the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
(2 Corinthians 4:3-6)
My Prayer For You Today:
Heavenly Father, we seek Your light in this dark world. May
Your Holy Spirit be a light unto our paths, that we may successfully navigate
our way to Your Glory. The enemy has Your faithful on his radar. We ask that You
arm us with your armor O Lord that we defeat the enemy and his army. In Jesus
name, Amen…
By: C.D. McCloud
Thank you sharing this awesome devotional. I am so thankful for you showing us how the enemy positions himself and his point of attack in our lives. These messages always bless my spirit and shed light on things that apply in our daily walk in Christ. Continue to edify the body of Christ. Job well done! 👍
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