As my basketball coach, my dad used to frequently say that in order to be a good player, you had to be a student of the game. You had to pay attention and always be learning, or you could not get better. He would talk a lot about “basketball IQ,” often frustrated that intelligent people did not always make intelligent players. He would preach, “You have to be a student of the game. Are you a student of the game?“
Of course, I find myself telling my kids the same thing. Silas (#22 above) and Noah (#22 below) both finished their seasons recently. Whether with them or with Levi and Zoe, whose seasons finished a couple of months ago, I am regularly reminding them of their need not only to practice the fundamentals of the game but to better learn the fundamentals of the game by watching basketball. If you do not know the game well, you cannot play the game well.
Similarly, but much more importantly, if you do not know the Lord well, you cannot follow and worship the Lord well. Are you a student of the game?
Really, though, life is much more than a game because what happens in this life matters for eternity. And, the only knowledge sufficient for eternal life is the knowledge of the gospel. Thus, are you a student of the Word? Do you know the Lord according to His Word and seek to follow and worship Him according to the standards of His Word?
On Sunday morning, Lord willing, I will preach through Psalm 145 on “Learned Worship.” We will consider five ways to learn right worship. God defines what is right, and knowing Him and knowing His Word will allow us to worship Him rightly. Otherwise, we go through the motions in vain, at best, dishonoring His name and destroying our lives.
Are you a student of the game? Your success depends on it. Are you a student of the Word? Your salvation depends on it.
DrakeCity 