Basketball: On offense, you try to get the ball into the hoop. On defense, you defend the basket so the other team will not get the ball into the hoop.
Football: On offense, you try to get the ball into the end zone and then kick the ball through the goalpost. On defense, you try to keep the other team out of the end zone.
Soccer: You kick the ball and try to get a goal.
Baseball: You try to hit the ball as far as you can and get to all the bases.
Tennis: You hit the ball back and forth until somebody messes up.
Volleyball: You hit the ball back and forth over a net.
Track and Field: There is a lot of different things with this sport. Running with a stick, hoisting yourself up over a pole...with another pole, and throwing a heavy ball as far as you can.
All these sports seem so simple, and yet we give up our time, blood, sweat, and tears for what? A simple sport? Why? Why do we give up so much for something so little? It's because it is something we love. It is something we are dedicated to and we can't picture living without it. Sports are just like our relationship with God. Something so simple as saying a prayer to start a relationship with God and having faith as small as a mustard seed, but we might find ourselves giving up other things because some people or things don't line up with our faith. It may be music, friends, family and we might find ourselves giving up our life for the Lord. Now, there is something I forgot to put in that makes these sports bigger and much more rewarding in the end. The details. Such as basketball, you have to run a lot because the ball is moving non-stop. You have to be ready to go from being on offense to guarding the basket. In football, you have to plow into each other just to get to the person throwing the ball. In soccer, you have to keep control of the ball while having someone trying to get the ball from you. Once you put the details or obstacles in the mix of that simple thing it becomes so much more! Overcoming an obstacle or winning a championship reminds you why you are doing this. Just like sports, we have obstacles in our relationship with God. We are going to be tempted by Satan. We're going to want to become like everybody else in the world again. We'll want to give up, but in the end, after overcoming those obstacles, we will be reminded that God has got this and that nothing is more powerful than Him. No matter what the obstacle, God will always come through and He will always succeed. And that is why we do this.
