The Glorious Spectator

Few things in life bring passion to a southerner's soul as football in the south. Football is not merely a sport here- it is an event, a way of life, almost cult like in its fervor. If Sundays are reserved for the religion of church then Saturdays are devoted to the religion of college football.

There is something special about strolling around a college campus on gameday. The smell of food on the grills, the ambient noise of people tailgating under their team canopy tents, and boys and girls off in the distance running around enjoying the festivities of the day are sure signs gametime is just around the corner.

Sure the mass of humanity and snarling traffic is enough to test one's spirit but nothing will ruin this day for it is sacred and we the spectators will treat it as such. We're willing to endure much because we know the game is upon us.

Entering the stadium it is easy to be overcome with the mystique of the event. The field is bathed in brilliant sunshine. The other spectators arrive and soon you are surrounded by over 100,000 of your closest friends. So close it is almost uncomfortable. The glorious spectator is crammed into a space so small that even the most petite of person would defy its space limits. Yet, we’re eager to be here. We’ve come to honor our team whom we love.

The band plays, the players sprint on to the field and we the glorious spectators yell, jump, celebrate for hours for people we really don't know. The game ends. The spectator has given his best. Win or lose, the spectator did his part. Spent after a long day of revelry, the spectator says goodbye to his friends and journeys to his home where he will assume his other life of quiet reservation until next Saturday where he'll pick up his worship of football once again.

Right worship...wrong God.

The single greatest thing we do and become is centered in this thing called worship. Jesus said the greatest thing a person can do/be is worship-"To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind is the greatest commandment"(Matthew 22:37). Our worship is not relegated to a time, event, or location. It is not focused on a style but on a substance. It is not focused on what I receive but what I give. It encompasses my entire being-my affections, my attentions. Worship is life. And as I value more and more this thing called worship, my life and everything in it changes from the inside out.

God doesn’t seek after my worship. He seeks after worshippers-me and you (John 4:23). God will be praised. His glory will be exalted in all the earth. The question is- as He pursues you, will you be a glorious spectator of a game and give your love to another or will you be an active participant and worship the Lord Most high?

Game on.