On One Condition

"Hey, Dad. I'm going out for the football team this fall," Jak announced one evening.

"Sounds great, son. When are tryouts?"

"In a couple of weeks."

"What are you doing to get ready?"

Jak laughed. "Oh, I plan to jog around the block a few times. Lift a couple of weights. But hey, I'm a natural athlete. When the coach sees what I can do, he'll beg me to be on his team!"

Days passed and Dad saw no sign of Jak working out, training, or doing anything differently than he'd always done.

"Son, don't you think you need to put some effort into this thing?" Dad asked one day. "I thought you really wanted this."

"I do! I'm crazy for football. Can't wait." Jak flipped off the TV and rolled to his feet with a sigh. "Okay, if it'll make you happy, I'll jog around my room a few times. That should do it. Guy of my talent shows up, that coach'll probably make me the quarterback the first day."

Do you think Jak has a dose of reality coming? Why?

We can easily see how ridiculous Jak's reasoning is when it comes to physical effort, 
but what about spiritual effort?

In the book of Jeremiah, God tells us: "You will seek me and you will find me...when you seek me with all your heart."

We often approach God with the same attitude with which Jak approached football. "When God sees me coming, He's gonna be so excited He can't stand it! A prayer here and there, extra money in the offering sometimes, God's lucky to have me on His team."

We forget God's little condition: We have to seek Him with all our hearts or we'll never find Him. Neither the coach nor God has any use for those who approach with the attitude that they are doing a favor by showing up.

It is God who initiates the desire to seek Him. It is God who has provided the way by which we can come to Him, but He is not interested in being Santa Claus or your personal genie.

He wants us to love Him, to want a loving relationship with Him, to seek Him for Himself, and not just what we think He can do for us.

Think about your last attempt at communication with God. 

Did you sound a little like Jak?

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