Playing for the Right Team

I shared this amazing Francis Anfuso quote on my FaceBook Status today:

"We’re created to be the salt and light of this earth. (Matthew 5:13–16) Salt preserves what is good, melts what is cold, and flavors what is bland.
Light eradicates darkness, shows direction, and reveals the truth. By blending into the world, adopting its values, and compromising Biblical wisdom, we misrepresent God and our life experience ends in regret. Eventually, we become exactly what we detest, living and dying in mediocrity.
If we, as Christ’s church, misrepresent Jesus, then we lose the essence of our purpose. Either we reflect the likeness of Jesus, or tarnish it and live a forgettable life. We must change, reflect our true Source, or accept the reality that we aren’t living up to our full potential. The God of second chances awaits our decision."

I've been thinking of our role as Christians in light of sports teams (March Madness affecting my brain :) We who have been redeemed play for God's team, while the Lost play for Satan's, whether they realize it or not. We Christians, however, have a choice: we can play with abandon and total commitment, or we can skip practices, shirk games, become distracted by our own affairs, and essentially bench ourselves. I must ask myself, "how loyal and committed are you? Honestly, I vaccilate. Sometimes I'm the gung-ho, most-improved player, and other times, I'm lazy and indifferent, the sort of player coaches want to kick in the butt. I hate it when I'm apathetic, but I don't usually hate it enough at the time. I WANT to LIVE in exuberance and steadfastness, not to waver with the wind.

So my prayer this week is that I fall so completely in love with Jesus that I can't help but exude His very life and light to EVERY person I encounter. That I'm not so caught up in my own agenda that I despise the very beings HE died for, you know, the ones cluttering up my goals. Sometimes I'm so self-absorbed, it's embarassing. So Lord, cause me to so hunger and thirst for You, that I AM salt and light in a world starving for Your love-a world looking to us to pour it out that love for them.