Blessed of My Father, e1

Mat 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

One thing you have to love about the NFL is the intensity.  Have you ever been at field level?  The sheer sound of the crash, when the ball is snapped, would amaze a lot of people.  ... Does amaze a lot of people who hear it for the first time.

In a lot of NFL football games, if you were to go by the intensity you saw in the crash at the line of scrimmage, you would think the fate of the world were at stake.  Sometimes I wonder whether, if that were the case, whether the athletes would be trying any harder than they already are.

Sports fan or not, you have to love that part of sports.  The timelessness, the transcendence, the purity of the effort.   When you are raising a 200-lb. barbell above your head, you're not thinking about your budget, or about the internet.  We all love transcendent, timeless experience.  Sports offer this, as does spirituality.

Those NFL athletes have a simple, and therefore clear, goal.  It is a piece of ground, 10 yards behind them.  The fact that they are clear about this simple goal, is makes their intense, focused effort possible.  The pass-rusher knows precisely what he wants, in the next four seconds -- and he doing exactly nothing, except going after that one thing.  An NFL athlete, after the ball goes live -- every step he takes is taken with one goal in mind.

Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,  Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

You don't have to be a Christian to marvel at the focus of Paul's nonviolent war on the world.  Have you ever been up to the Suzallo Library at the University of Washington?  Have you ever tried to count the number of books on the Apostle Paul? 

Whether you and I are fans of Paul's or not, one thing is clear:  he was a lot more important than you or I will ever be.  :- )  And the only weapons he had were -- ideas.

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;)

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

He accomplished a lot more with his ideas than you or I have.  Or will.   Why?  He knew what he wanted.  Every step he took moved him towards that. 

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My life expectancy is 78 or so.  I'm an American male in average health.  I'm 46 now.  I will spend 32 more years in pursuit of .... what?   "That a good time was had by all?"

Spiritual people have a very simple goal.   To be blessed by God.

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The problem is, most of us haven't exactly crystallized that goal.  Suppose that if you asked the next 100 people you met, even the next 100 spiritual people:  "Can you tell me your life goal in ten words?"  Do you think ANY of us would quote that Matt. 25:34 concept as our life's goal?

Yet Jesus offers this as the logical culmination of a life well lived.  You go live your life, He said, and if you are serious about the way you handle your life, if you handle your life per His direction .... at the end you'll get ... what?   You'll be called blessed.  By the Creator.

I wonder what would happen if we were aware of our goal in life.  :- )   Does anybody know what blessed means?

Snap the football.

Kind regards,

Jeff

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