Fantasy Sports

I am genuinely surprised at my level of interest in fantasy sports this year. As much as I enjoy playing them, I’ve never been consistent in the researching and viewing of sports. As much as I have desired to become the stereotypical male, glued to my Lazy Boy recliner every Sunday as I watch football, I tend to be a fair-weather fan. Is it because my home team, the Detroit Lions, is reliably awful and rarely wins? Not to be completely negative, but even with seemingly the right players in place, the Lions tend to be an expected “easy win” for their opponents. Regardless, there is something in me that has faith in the Lions. Anything’s possible, I suppose.
Hockey has been a different story. The Detroit Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup champions, are typically one of the better teams in professional hockey. Detroit is referred to “Hockeytown”. An enormous crowd of citizens gathered in Detroit last summer to hold a parade in honor of the Red Wings. As a youth, I had dreams of playing Olympic and eventually professional ice hockey. I would wake up every morning at 4 or 5 o‘clock in order to practice. Even when not practicing with a team, I would run drills with myself until it was time to prepare for the school day. When school would let out, I would get back to practicing or play a pick up game with friends. However, I never really had what it takes to be a professional. Like so many other of my interests, I gave up when I didn’t see results.
There are a few parallels that I can draw between my sporting life and my spiritual life. It’s difficult to remain steady in our relationship with God. When relationships, careers, and health fail, it is tempting to blame God. We tend to loose interest in Christianity when we don’t feel that it provides any advantage to our dismal lives. Phil. 2:12 states that we need to continue to work out our salvation. We can’t be spectators in the church. In Acts 2, just like today, people were being “added” to the church. We are part of the team. We are a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9). As such, it is our responsibility to do God’s work. 2 Thess. 3:10-12 states that, “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat”. We often won’t see immediate results in working for God. Prayers are not always answered in our time. Growth takes time. But, if we are ever to see positive growth in our lives and in the lives of others, we must continue to work.