The weakest among us can participate in athletics, but only the strongest can survive as spectators. According to a heart specialist, when you become a sports spectator rather than a participant, the wrong weight, blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, and triglycerides go up. Vital capacity, oxygen consumption, flexibility, stamina, and strength go down.
Being onlooker in the arena of Christian living is also risky. The wrong things go up, and the wrong things come down. Criticism, discouragement, disillusionment, and boredom go up. Sensitivity to sin and human need, and receptivity to Divine resources and the Word of God go down. Sure, there’s a certain amount of thrill and excitement in hearing someone’s testimony about how God has worked. But it’s nothing like knowing that joy yourself. There’s no substitute for cutting out your own path of peace, piling up your own experiences of faith, and using your own God-given abilities in behalf of others.
Don’t settle for watching fellow believers develop a heart for God. Nothing beats getting in there yourself. It’s worth the clammy hands, the butterflies, the anxious moments. If you are to be an effective and useful Christian, you must venture out in faith, and that’s risky. But remember, you’re taking a greater risk in being only a spectator. – Martin R. De Haan
Open my eyes in faith, I pray;
Give me strength to speak today,
Someone to bring, dear Lord, to Thee;
Use me, O Lord, use even me. – Stam
God called us to get into the game, not to keep the score.
- November 27, 1988, Our Daily Bread
For You 