ON GAME DAY, THE 2ND MEAL IS MORE IMPORTANT

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith for the Years of Winter… ©

I apologize to you if you have checked this blog in the last several days to see if there were anything new, but I’ve been busy. For instance, I had to appear in person at the radio show of Kevin Wilson, the IU football coach.

Among other things, Coach Wilson told about game-day preparations. He says their nutritionist has pointed out that they need to eat two meals before the game, but if the players eat too much in the first meal, then they don’t eat enough at the second meal, and they run out of fuel in the fourth quarter of the game.

In the spiritual life, John Wesley referred to this as “first blessing” and “second blessing,” or justification and sanctification.

We’ve all known new Christians who ate too much at first, then didn’t eat enough later, and ran out of fuel in the last quarter. Justification, or conversion, was just so strong that they forgot to stay open for what was to come.

Spiritual life is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. And as we marathoners know, no matter how slowly you are running, you can always run slower. The point is to keep going, regardless of the pace.

John Robert McFarland

johnrobertmcfarland@gmail.com

I tweet as yooper1721.

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