It's the middle of the summer, so those who play Fantasy Football are preparing for our league's Fantasy draft. Most leagues draft in August, but the anticipation and research have already begun.
As excited as we are for our upcoming drafts, when we look back at the history of our previous drafts, many of us remember our mistakes, failures, misses, and picks that didn't always pan out. Even the most elite Fantasy managers have made terrible draft decisions when selecting their top pick, choosing the wrong rookie running back, or taking a quarterback who had a horrible season. Because of this, it's easy to have a negative mindset while wondering if we’ll repeat our past mistakes. I'm sure others in our leagues are also fighting negativity since they've made embarrassing picks and now fear they'll blow it again. However, this is a brand new draft with new players, and the mistakes from the past can be lessons learned instead of reasons to fail again. The shame doesn't have to carry into this year's draft, and the results don't have to be the same. There's an excellent opportunity for our teams to turn out better as we choose our players because the next pick can be different, as changes and new perspectives can lead to proper selections. The leagues that do a total redraft without any keepers can start over, head down a new path, and not let the past negatively affect their choices when they're on the clock. Thankfully, in real life, today is a new day for you and me. Even if we have a history of making bad mistakes or have previously chosen a pattern of sin, the “next pick” can be different. Just because we blew it yesterday, we don't have to repeat our failures or go down the same path again. When we receive new life in Christ, we're no longer the person we used to be. We don't have to have the same results or repeat a pattern of sin because we've been given the power through Christ to do things differently. In Fantasy Football, just because we always seem to draft players who don't live up to expectations doesn't mean this year's selections will be a bust, too. In Fantasy or life, we must believe failures from our past don't have to lead to the same failures in our future. As followers of Jesus, we have a whole new outlook on life. He helps us make the right choices, and we're empowered to be better than we once were. Today, let's move past shame as we rest in God's grace and love while we determinedly take on the challenge to embrace the powerful hope and assurance God gives us in His Word: "And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires. "In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. "The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins" (2 Peter 1:4-9; NLT). I'm Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that! PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray I don’t buy the lies that I will fall into the same failures as I did in the past. I place my hope and trust in You and know I can live a Holy life as I follow You and rely on Your power. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.
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