By Matt Osborne, Staff Writer

The inaugural title game in the NBA’s new in-season tournament has been officially set, as the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Indiana Pacers to determine a champion on Saturday.

While both teams equally earned their way into the finals in Las Vegas, the semifinal contests determining the matchup went much differently.

The Pacers relied upon clutch plays down the stretch (primarily from star guard, Tyrese Haliburton) to edge out Milwaukee 128-119 in its semifinal matchup.

Conversely, the Lakers routed the New Orleans Pelicans by a score of 133-89 in a game that was hardly ever in doubt.

The fact that Los Angeles was able to beat the Pelicans in their matchup doesn’t come as a huge shock, but how they won surprised many people.

The 44-point margin of victory ranked as the third-most lopsided defeat in the history of the Pelicans’ regular season.

The result was even more shocking because New Orleans had all three of its star players (Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and C.J. McCollum) in the lineup.

Following the defeat, Pelicans head coach Willie Green told reporters, ”Tonight was a total letdown. We were all disappointed in our competitive spirit against the Lakers, and you got to give them credit.”

Williamson echoed his coach’s sentiment, placing much of the blame on his lack of enthusiasm and intensity.

He commented, “I got to be better. I got to be more aggressive, finding my shot. I got to do more things to get my team going. I think I was too laid-back tonight, and I just can’t do that.”

As sports fans, we know that playing with passion and zeal (dedication and enthusiasm) is incredibly important for success. A team can’t achieve its goals if it is lackadaisical and fails to play with a competitive spirit.

Similarly, it’s vitally important that followers of Jesus “play with passion” as they walk the road of faith.

In His message to the church of Laodicea, Jesus remarked, “‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold (invigorating, refreshing) nor hot (healing, therapeutic); I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust]'” (Revelation 3:15-16; AMP).

Jesus made it very clear He wasn’t pleased with the lackluster passion and zeal being demonstrated by the church in Laodicea.

While the church had not completely abandoned Jesus or stopped having an interest in Him, their passion and commitment had become stale.

Unfortunately, that same assessment could be given to some of us who profess faith in Jesus today.

As we attempt to faithfully follow Jesus while navigating the responsibilities of life, we can find ourselves slipping into a state of being “lukewarm” and “playing without passion.”

While it’s vitally important to recognize how serious this problem is in Jesus’ eyes, we also need to be encouraged to make the necessary changes that enable us to follow Jesus with tremendous zeal and passion.

Romans 12:11 (NIV) commands us, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

So the question becomes: How can we generate passion and zeal when we find ourselves in a state of being lukewarm?

First of all, we must remember that we never want our emotions to dictate our actions. We take faithful steps of obedience (despite how we’re feeling at the time), and trust God to transform our feelings and emotions as we move forward.

In Jeremiah 3:22 (NIV), the Lord told a group of lukewarm people, “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.”

Notice that God didn’t tell them to find passion and zeal so they could return to God. Rather, He told them to return first, and that He’d be the One to help cure them from their lack of passion.

When we find ourselves lacking spiritual zeal in our walk with the Lord, we must be intentional to take steps of obedience regardless of how we might be feeling at the time.

That might mean committing to be more faithful in attending church, making changes to our schedule so we can regularly pray and read our Bible, or actively looking for ways to serve those in need.

Hebrews 4:12 (NASB) highlights one example of how this takes place: “For the Word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The Word of God being “living and active,” means that as we take time to read the Bible, it empowers us to better live out the things we’re reading.

In other words, deciding to read the Bible will help us have more of a desire to read it in the future.

We don’t always have complete control over our emotions and feelings, but we can control the choices we make, which often cultivates the emotions we feel.

So today, let’s choose to move forward in obedience. Let’s make the decisions that move us closer to God…trusting He’ll renew and ignite our passions as we walk in faithfulness to what He’s commanded.

I’m Matt Osborne, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the times I lack passion in my walk with You. Help me to move in obedience no matter how I’m feeling at the time. Thank you for helping me transform my emotions and desires as I intentionally seek after You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.