WEEK 22 DEVOTIONAL | NARROW GATE

According to a National Alliance for Youth Sports study, about 70% of kids stop playing sports by age 13.

Just over 7% of athletes play sports in college, and only 1.8% of men and women play Division 1 sports.

That means only 1 out of 13 high school athletes will play in college, and only 1 out of every 57 will play at the Division 1 level.

Narrow is the gate that leads to success, and even more narrow is the gate to continued success.

My keys to success are work hard and have fun. Hopefully, your athletic journey is long and enjoyable. The harder you work and the more fun you have, the longer and more successful your career will be.

We are the results of our decisions. Good decisions lead to good results, and bad decisions lead to bad results. Wisdom is doing today what your future self will thank you for, so create the life and career you want with each decision you make.

While life is a series of choices and decisions, no decision is more important than the one Jesus talks about in Matthew 7:13-14.

Towards the end of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his disciples:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

We constantly find ourselves at spiritual crossroads, and the path towards the love, joy, and peace that God guides and teaches us to choose is the narrow path that isn’t easy to take.

Choose to live, work, and play in love. Love who you are, love what you do, and love who you do it with. It is written that even if we have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and even if we have the faith to move mountains, if we don’t have love, we don't have anything (1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:2‬). Just before Jesus was arrested and put on the cross, he told his disciples:

Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another (John 13:34-35).

Choose to find joy in everyday life. Don’t just enjoy the big moments, enjoy it all. Kobe once said, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” Jesus told his disciples, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may overflow (John 15:11).” Jesus wants us to experience a joy that overflows and pours out of us. If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.

Finally, seek and pursue peace. Peace is remaining calm, feeling calm, and being calm and steady at all times, especially in the middle of a storm. Your athletic and spiritual journey will be filled with storms. Seek and find peace. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

THIS WEEK

1 - Love what you do! What is the one thing you love most about the sport you play or coach? How can you do more of that?

2 - Enjoy what you do! What is the one thing you enjoy the most about playing or coaching?

3 - Seek and pursue peace? What is one thing that gives you fear or anxiety about playing and coaching?

4 - What is a Bible verse or Biblical story that you can lean on when you need peace?

Legendary basketball coach John Wooden once said, "Success is peace of mind, a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

This week, love what you do, enjoy what you do, do your best.

For a Google doc version of this, click here: Narrow Gate