Practice to WIN! -- More than Mediocre

Thursday, September 23, 2010
Read Ephesians 1:13-19
By Sandra K. Wade
Recently I was listening to the podcast of Family Life Today. The guests were a couple whose marriage seemed doomed from the beginning. The wife, Star Molegraaf, remembers sitting across from a marriage counselor who wanted to talk with her about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Star says, “He looked at me again real intently in the eye; and he said, ‘Do you believe that God took that dead man out of the grave, raised Him to life so that He could save you?’ I said, ‘Yes! I believe that.’ He said, ‘You think God can take a dead man—raise Him to life again to save you—but you don’t think that same God can heal your marriage?’ It was my moment.”

Although I may not face the same challenge, Star Molegraaf’s testimony reminds me that as a believer I have been given all I need to practice to win at whatever challenges I may face. The passage in Ephesians reminds me that I was given the equipment that will give me the ability to win. When I heard the Word of Truth (the Gospel) and believed, I was marked with the promised Holy Spirit. I can know the hope to which he has called me, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparable great power (the kind of power that can raise the dead).

We may call ourselves practicing but many times we are not giving our all. We aren’t even using all the equipment provided for us. No wonder we keep playing a mediocre game.

Applying the Truth as an Individual
Are you practicing like a marked, empowered follower of Christ? Do you feel like practice is pointless because you’ve already lost so many games?

Applying the Truth as a Church
Is our local body content with mediocre practices? How can we encourage one another to give each practice our all?