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"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.'"
(John 14:6; ESV)
I am a big sports fan. I love watching athletes compete in almost anything, really. I enjoy watching football, basketball, tennis, pickleball, and honestly, the only thing I cannot get behind is e-gaming. I just can't get into watching that! My level of sports fandom is such that I even follow closely what is happening during the off-season. This off-season has been particularly interesting, and not just because of COVID! Player contracts have been enormous! For example, Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs just signed a 10-year, $503 million deal with them. No, you did not read that wrong.
Patrick Mahomes is obviously an extremely valuable player, and his leadership and feats of athleticism are certainly worthy of praise, admiration, and inspiration. The Kansas City Chiefs deem Mahomes worth so much money not just because of his leadership and athleticism, but also his mental skills, including his focus, his ability to read defenses, and his exceptional overall football IQ. $503 million is a staggering number, but even though this goes down in history as one of the biggest sports contracts ever, there will be a bigger contract eventually. Someone will inevitably come along in some sport and get more money for his or her skills. Ascribing dollar values to people's skills and qualities will likely continue forever, especially in sports.
While some people may view their worth solely in terms of the money they make, the Bible tells us that worth and worthiness come in many different forms, the most important deriving from our identity as image-bearers of God, and as Christians, our identity in Christ. Paul ends Philippians 4:8 with the challenge to think on things that are worthy of praise, so I wanted to end this week how we started it: thinking about Jesus, the pinnacle of praiseworthiness.
In John 14, Jesus talks about Himself being truth and being the only way to salvation. Jesus is the conqueror of death and sin. Jesus is the one seated at the right hand of the Father, and His Spirit will always be with us. If there is anyone or anything worthy of praise, it is Jesus! Let us fix our thoughts on Him and find joy in striving to follow His example more closely every day!
I hope this week you have evaluated your thought life and have found worthy things upon which to fix your thoughts. Above all else, I hope you will join me in fixing your thoughts on Jesus!
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