ESPN Christianity

I love ESPN. I don't have to spend 2-4 hours watching a game. I can just tune in to ESPN and watch a minutes worth of highlights and get the score and be good to go. It's amazing that they can take a 3 hour game and reduce it down to 60 seconds or less of the best plays. I think we do the same with the Bible and our faith. We like the highlights. We like the best verses. We like the great promises. We love the positive, nice, pleasant, "get rich," "get well" verses of the Bible but pay little attention to what accompanies these verses or the context in which it is given or other verses that might say something different. For instance, we like Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." But we don't quote 4:12 "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." We love Jeremiah 29:11 but don't want to accept 2 Timothy 3:12. We love this promise but ignore this command. We want this but are not happy when this happens. Are you upset because you feel God didn't come through? Has God disappointed you by not answering a certain prayer or saving you from a certain situation? Maybe you are trying to live in the highlights instead of deepening your knowledge of Him or understanding the whole of Scripture. ESPN doesn't show the sacrifice, discipline, blood, sweat and tears that it takes to make the highlight reel. In order for us to live in the highlights as Christians, we also must be willing to make the sacrifice, accept the discipline, spill our blood, work up a sweat and shed our tears. Cheer up, my brothers! Hang in there, my sisters! Be strong and of good courage! Every trial or difficulty has an end and the reward, the highlight, is for those who don't quit, who persevere to the end. The best highlights are in the bottom of the ninth, after the two-minute warning, the 15th round, the last 10 laps. But you don't get there without playing the rest of the game.