Run the Course

I found myself reflecting on my days in sports medicine earlier today. For some reason I was thinking about the first day of football practice back in the mid 90's. We were wrapping up with some conditioning and had set some cones up for our team to mark their running course. I was standing at one end with our assistant athletic trainer (Angie) and we saw a couple of our team captains run by and cut one of the corners instead of running around the cone. It saved them 3-4 steps at most, but had a deeper meaning in my eyes. 

I told Angie that we would not be winning a championship that year if our leaders were already looking for shortcuts on the first day. That corner wasn't the most important in their conditioning, but it was a reflection of their work ethic and heart. My prediction came true as we had a good regular season, but lost in the 1st round of the playoffs. 

I wonder where we are cutting corners in our lives now. Is it in our finances-trying to keep up appearances and standards of living that are beyond our income? Is it hoping that a mini-vacation with our spouse will make up for not investing in our relationship all year long? Is it buying things for our children instead of intentionally parenting them each day? Perhaps it is found in the way we manipulate our relationship with God to be a matter of convenience instead of an intimate, daily event. 

Having the discipline to do the right thing every day doesn't just lead to championships. It builds a foundation of God-honoring and Christ-following lives that are successful by Kingdom standards.