GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!

I am home from church now to an empty house. The boys are gone to work. The soccer game is on the television and the DVR is doing its job. I listen to the "rolling R's" and the enthusiastic drawn out syllables of the Spanish speaking announcer. If I actually listen, I can catch about every third word and make sense of the game. After all, I had Spanish in junior high, high school and attempted it in college and I also was a former soccer mom. To my husband, well, it could be in any language; it would not matter a bit. He watches soccer and our American National Team with loyalty and longing.

Do you find yourself sometimes only catching every third word God is communicating to you? Is His word bouncing back void, head-butted out of your life? Do you think scripture is like a foreign language? Ask yourself: Have you ever had a loyalty and longing for God's Word? What is it that keeps us from conversing with our Creator and Savior? Jesus Christ has purchased our ticket to be front and center in His arena. He longs for you to be His "star player", to "Bend it like Beckham", not just a casual observer. He speaks to us in the language of Love.

I would venture to say, it is our own "yellow cards" that have kept us sidelined. The Good News though is that Jesus Christ took the "Red Card" for us and gives us the opportunity to play in the game under His Grace. It takes strong discipline to be a great player as well as a commitment to grow in Christ by reading and meditating on His Word. If we do not understand that God wants us to "kick the ball" back and forth with our fellow players; we might just be in the wrong game. "Slam dunks and quarterback sacks" are lonely plays and they will not help us a bit in a soccer game. So, be a team player...listen to God's language of love. Go about it with longing and loyalty as you seek victory in your life. Do not leave His playbook in your smelly locker. Read about the ordinary, humble people God has used to become the "Beckhams" in His Kingdom. It does take practice, but God is patient with His athletes in action.