Monday ~ May 14, 2012
Guest Blogger Monday
Ryan Sharpe
The Cloud of Witnesses
Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message (MSG)
Discipline
in a Long-Distance Race
1-3Do
you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these
veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start
running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your
eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did
it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish
in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame,
whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When
you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by
item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot
adrenaline into your souls!
I learned how to skate by the time I was three, and I played
hockey competitively from about five years old until I was twenty-four. I did what most people would be unwilling to
do to learn and improve my abilities that God had gifted me with. When my friends were growing up many of them
would be playing and I was out on the outdoor rink, shooting, skating, and
pretending I was scoring the overtime goal to win the Stanley Cup.
When I was a teenager, my friends would be chasing the
girls, going to the beach, and enjoying the easy summers. I would put on roller blades and skate seven
miles down the highway with my dad following me. I would shoot 500-1000 pucks off of a piece
of plywood with a weighted stick. I
would run sprints up and down our driveway and still hold down a job to make
the money I needed to buy sticks and equipment.
I would study the greats of the game and try to imitate them. I never lost sight of the goal of playing
hockey as long as I could, and I was willing to put up with any obstacle to get
there. All that hard work paid off and I
really had a great run making it to the Division 1 NCAA level and winning a
national championship there. The best part
about that story is that I met my wife at that college.
I just turned 39. As I look back at that experience and look
forward to the possibilities I can see that my life has changed dramatically
because of my relationship with Christ, which began in 1996. I have come a long way from who I was back
then and I am just getting started. I
ask myself this question. “Will I give
the same commitment and passion to grow closer to Christ the rest of my life as
I gave to the game of hockey?” I have to
admit it is a tough question to ask myself.
But just as crowds of people cheered me on in my successes and failures
in hockey I have a cloud of witnesses/pioneers cheering me on to finish this
race of life!
Sometimes I forget what the true goal is and I get focused
on myself. Sometimes I fail or things
just don’t go my way, and I get weary in doing the right things in life. Then I read this great passage out of Hebrews
and I am reminded of the example that was set for us by my Lord Jesus and the
others warriors of the Faith. In just three
short verses we are given the roadmap we need to get back on track and focus on
the race. I look up at Christ and
remember what He endured for me so that I could be saved. I remember that all of those champions of the
faith who went before us, doing the impossible, were human just like me. I remember that if I just believe as they did
and keep my eyes on the Lord anything is possible!
Previous experience then reminds me that I cannot sit idle
and expect God to act. There are things
I can’t do that I must rely on God for, but I also must take part in the making
of my destiny. I would not have made it
were I did in hockey without my effort and God’s hand and help. I will never be
like Christ without doing my part along with God doing His. The call to holiness in our daily lives is
not a passive game. We cannot attain it
without Christ and He will not develop it in our lives without our effort.
Jerry Bridges sums it up in his book “The Pursuit of Holiness”:
“The farmer cannot do
what God must do, and God will not do what the farmer should do… The pursuit of
holiness is a joint venture between God and the Christian. No one can attain any degree of holiness
without God working in his life, but just as surely, no one will attain it
without effort on his own part.”
God gave each of us gifts, talents, and a mission. It is there deep in our hearts. It surfaces once in awhile and gnaws at us
and frustrates us and we sometimes try to ignore it. The question is whether we will let the world
snuff it out, or will we study Christ and come to know him intimately instead
of just in passing? He will unleash that
passion from within us, and as long as we are actively pursuing him through our
lives, He will take us where we are destined to go.
Are you in? Will you
run this race, or will you simply be a spectator?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ryan Sharpe grew up
playing hockey in Kenora, Ontario, Canada.
He won a Junior-A National Championship with the Thunder Bay Flyers and
an NCAA National Championship with the Lake Superior State University
Lakers. He and his wife, Carrie, blog
and do inspirational public speaking through their business called “He says,
She says”, which can be found at http://www.ryancarriesharpe.com. They reside in Northern Michigan with their
five children and are active in their local church.
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