Over the last few weeks, my youngest son has been playing soccer with a team. They practice twice a week and then usually have games on Sundays. As with any team, when you first put them together, it is challenging as everyone finds their place and starts to understand strengths and weaknesses. As a parent on the sideline, it can be quite frustrating at times to watch their games and not comment out loud on how they could be doing something different or better. Occasionally, I have yelled out to my son to push harder or change positions, even though this is discouraged.
When I take a step back and think about our lives as Christians, I can draw parallels between me watching these games and how God the Father and Jesus Christ watch us living our lives here now on this earth. I wonder how many times they are cheering from the sidelines, or groaning inwardly at our awkward attempts and failures. The Bible very clearly tells us that God is always watching our lives (Hebrews 4:13; Proverbs 15:3).
As we continue in this life, we are each growing and being tested and tried to show that we are worthy; that we can persevere and overcome those trials which we each face.
As we are approaching the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread, our minds and our thoughts should be turning more inwards and reflective, contemplating just how we are matching up to what we proclaim to be true. In 1 Corinthians 11:27-28, Paul reiterates for us that we should be examining ourselves – seeing where we fall short and where we are winning.
When we do this examination properly, God is pleased with us because He sees our effort. He understands that we are continuing on and we are attempting to remain as true Christians. Psalm 103:13-14 reminds us that He knows who and what we are: “As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”
When a parent yells for his child to do better on the sidelines, it’s a sad attempt at control. It produces nothing good or useful. In similar fashion, the Bible shows that God is not distant from us in this process. In fact, we are told that “the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth…” (2 Chronicles 16:9). He is watching, not just to observe, but to strengthen, to guide, and to help us grow.
The kids practice twice a week, working with their coach on things that they can do better. Oftentimes, the games reveal weaknesses that need tweaking and practice.
Similarly, we live from moment to moment, either including God in our ways or not. Paul encouraged the Christians at his time to keep trying, keep pushing, even IF it was challenging at times. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24–25: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.”
When we think about our lives in this manner, all of the sudden, the game changes. It’s not simply a loss or win scenario; rather, we are playing for our eternal lives. God wants us to win. He will do everything in His power to help us to do so. We must be willing participants in this regard, though. We have to want this victory more than anything and in turn do everything required to win. When Jacob wrestled with Christ, he would not let Him go until he received a blessing from Christ, showing his serious desire to win.
Paul was constantly encouraging the churches he was writing to, to push harder, to do more, and to overcome more. We should develop or have the same attitude and mindfulness as we prepare to participate in the Passover ceremony. Let’s note what Paul says in Philippians 2:12–13: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” This is such a powerful Scripture for us—we strive, we attempt, we push, and God empowers us to do so. He gives us strength to overcome and to grow.
God is never far away from us. God is always willing to listen and waiting for us to come to Him and to turn our lives in every way back to Him (Lamentations 3:40-41).
So, as I continue to sit on the sidelines and watch my son play, I’m reminded that growth doesn’t happen all at once. It comes through practice, through mistakes, through correction, and through persistence.
And in much the same way, our Christian lives are about striving for perfection, day by day. As we approach the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, let’s take that examination seriously. Let’s look honestly at where we need to grow, where we need to push harder, and where we need to let God work more fully in us. We have to be careful here, though. It is easy to get caught up in the looking and the realization of our shortcomings; it is another to actually make the necessary changes to improve and grow. James 1:22-25 warns us to “…be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
We are striving for an imperishable crown, eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Nothing can compare with that. When we think about this, when we meditate on it, when we let it fill us up and overtake our entire lives, then we will make real, tangible progress.
As we move forward from this point to the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, let’s not just recognize where we need to change, but actually commit to and practice it. Let’s put in the effort, the practice and the repetition. Just like those kids on the field, improvement doesn’t come from simply knowing what to do; it comes from doing it, again and again.
Let’s each respond with this determination. Let’s push harder. Let’s strive more. Let’s refuse to give up. This isn’t just a game; we are fighting for our eternal life.