Last night, baseball fans celebrated the wonderful sport by watching young stars shine in the MLB All-Star Game, which resulted in a 5-2 win for the American League.
I have to admit, I don’t have the same passion for baseball as I did when I first became a fan of the game.
Throughout my childhood, I enjoyed watching the Atlanta Braves on TBS and the Chicago Cubs on WGN. I would catch almost every baseball highlight on Sportscenter each morning, loved watching the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998, and have many fond memories of going to different ballparks with my grandpa.
I remember wearing my hat backward because Ken Griffey Jr. did…collecting baseball cards…playing baseball video games on my Sega and Nintendo 64…memorizing batting orders…and knowing who the great players were.
But as my life got busier over the years, other sports became a priority and I lost the excitement and interest I once had. I no longer go out of my way to watch baseball on TV, I haven’t been to an MLB stadium in years, and I haven’t had meaningful conversations about baseball with my friends in a long time.
Although my baseball fandom isn’t the same as it once was, the All-Star game reminded me of the summer love I once had. Now, I have to decide if I should turn back to the sport and intentionally focus on knowing who the current players are and seek the same joy that I once experienced when I first started following baseball.
The truth is, many of us have similar experiences with our spiritual journeys when our love for Jesus and passion to follow Him begin to wane.
Instead of our faith growing and our joy deepening, we become too busy and other things take over in our lives. We no longer have the same interest in pursuing Jesus and we don’t go out of our way to spend time with Him, go to church, memorize scripture, and have meaningful conversations about Him with our friends.
When we realize this is happening, we have to remember the time we first believed and remind ourselves why we fell in love with Jesus, to begin with.
We must decide to repent and turn back to Him as we intentionally focus on knowing Him and get back to following Him like we once did.
The joy, passion, excitement, and interest return when we realize just how wonderful He is and how gracious He was to save us from our sin.
Sometimes the distractions and pursuits of this world, as well as the struggles of life, cause us to forget that and we get off track.
In the second chapter of Revelation, God reveals this message to the church in Ephesus and can also be an important challenge to us:
“But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love[you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me]. So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will] and do the works you did at first [when you first knew Me]; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place—unless you repent” (verses 4-5; AMP).
God can transform our thinking, ignite our love again, and remind us of His goodness and grace. We need that childlike faith combined with a strong desire to know Him deeply and follow Him closely.
Today, let’s continue to have the same joy and passion we first had when we surrendered our life to Jesus and ask Him to “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You” (Psalm 51:12; NLT).
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray You’d ignite a fire within me that provides excitement, passion, and energy for You. Help me not to take my salvation for granted or allow the challenges of life to distract me from loving You deeply. Thank you for Your grace and Your love. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Discussion Questions for PACKS:
- What do you remember about the joy you had when you first received Christ?
-
What distracts you or causes you to lose some of your passion for Jesus?
