Out of the Abundance of the Heart…
Every time I decide to hop online and write something on my blog, I always have to reset my password because it has been so long since I have logged in that I have long since forgotten what I set it to the last time. However, I hope to make this the beginning of a more weekly activity to chronicle and journal my thoughts. We will see how that goes.
There is no telling how many times I have read Jesus’ words to the Pharisee’s in Matthew 12, however, as I sit back today, one verse in particular keeps coming to my mind: Matthew 12:34-”…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
I think these words are resonating with me so heavily today because today marks the beginning of the World Series, the culmination of the baseball season that began back and April and one that I have followed closely every step of the way. One that has seen the team I have grown up loving so much back in the World Series in back to back years. There is no doubt I am an obsessive baseball and Rangers fan (one needs only to read the title of my blog to figure that out.) But over the last couple weeks as I have been privileged to be at every Rangers’ home playoff game, I have been struck with the reality of the fact that each and every person has priorities and passions concerning their lives.
I have been part of crowds of 50,000+ people, standing and screaming at the tops of their lungs as Nelson Cruz hits a walk-off grand slam to win game 2 against the Tigers or watching a 9 run inning help seal our return to the World Series, and the energy and the passion present in that stadium was literally deafening. I can only speculate how many of those people present in the stadium are Christians, but one would hope that I am not one of only a few Christians who also love baseball. But as I think back to those moments as the World Series begins today, I wonder when the last time any of us were as excited about what God was doing in our lives and the life of our church as we are about the Rangers making it to the World Series for a second consecutive year. How many people in that stadium will raise their hands and yell for a home run, yet sit in a pew on Sunday morning, cold and dead by comparison when it comes to worshiping their Lord and Savior. Louie Giglio tweeted two weeks ago: “Let us never cheer more loudly in the sports stadium than in the sanctuaries of our churches.” What a punch in the gut this is to us all, myself included.
For some it may not be a sport, it may be another activity, hobby, or even something good such as their family. But God has called us to honor Him above ALL else, without exception, and to have no other God’s before Him. We live in an idolatrous world where Satan has been able to use good things to rob Christians of what is best in their life. We can become blinded and sidetracked for the love we have for things in the world yet find ourselves worshiping them with more passion and energy than we have for Christ Himself.
As a minister and preacher of the gospel, I pray that the people God allows me to speak to will never question the passion and desire I have to follow Christ and make His name known throughout the nations. I want them to know and to see that above all the cross of Christ has made an eternal difference in my life once and for always, and that is what is continually sustaining me every single day. And I pray that the fervor and passion I have for the gospel will encourage them and inspire them to always remember that above all else we are called to worship and love our Savior in Spirit and in truth. And the people in our world will know what we worship and what we love by where our energies and passions lie, “for where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)
I want people to know that I am a die-hard Ranger fan (but between my shirt, jersey, jacket and hat I am wearing today, I feel like I have left little doubt), but above that I want people to see and hear and know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am in love with Christ and the gospel has completely transformed my life and my mind. I want them to be able to see an excitement and an energy about my relationship with Christ that shows the outward reflection of the inward transformation Christ has done in my life and in my heart. I want my heart and my mouth to speak of Christ first, and other things second. I want the abundance of my heart to pour out nothing else other than the gospel of Jesus Christ.
