Monday, July 8, 2013

Andrew Murray, Wimbledon, and Following Jesus

Andy Murray has won Wimbledon.  The first British tennis player to do so in almost 80 years.  Congrats!  Back in the day, I used to play quite a bit of tennis.  So I still follow the sport, and in particular Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Murray played Djokovic for the Wimbledon title, after meeting him in last year's U.S. Open and this year's Australian Open.  They split the previous two finals, with Djokovic winning his third Australian title in a row.  The two have competed against one another since they were juniors.

Murray finally broke through yesterday, winning the one he's always wanted to win.  Finally.

And here's the spiritual application.

Some of us have particular foes that we have been battling for years.  Anger.  Lust and other mismanaged desires.  Greed.  Materialism.  Or the insecurity that comes with both.  Whatever they are, they've been around and you, spiritually speaking, know one another's games - strong points, weaknesses, anticipated moves.

What Murray did was never give up.  Ever.  Disappointment and frustration have been his, and notably with tears and apologies.  But he never gave up.  He kept playing, kept practicing, kept at it.

So it is with the battle against sin.

Stay in the game.  Don't give up when you fail once.  Or twice.  Or three times.  Stay in the fight.  Keep playing.  Keep practicing the spiritual disciplines that help you do what you can't do on your own power.  Stay in the game.

You just might find a breakthrough on the horizon.

And then you'll go back to practice the next day. :-)

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

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