Ready:
“Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the LORD! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” – Psalm 100:1-2
Set:
It’s easy to get into a rut of performing your responsibilities as an athlete or coach out of a sense of obligation. We know that we’re supposed to do things like workouts or skill development drills, so we do them. This can spill over into how we relate to God. We know that we are supposed to pray, read the Bible and participate in worship services, so we do these things…but mainly out of a sense of obligation.
Psalm 100 opens with an invitation to come to God with joy rather than merely out of obligation. The encouragement to shout triumphantly could also be translated, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord.” We “come before him with joyful songs.” Joy is a deep delight at the core of our being based not on favorable circumstances but rather on the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord. Psalm 100 concludes by reminding us of this: “For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations” (Psalm 100:5).
We receive the joy of the Lord’s abundant goodness, love and faithfulness when we put our trust in Christ. We have joy knowing Jesus rescues us from the penalty we deserve for our sin against God. We have joy knowing Jesus reconciles us to our Heavenly Father who loves us and from whom every good and perfect gift comes. We have joy knowing the Lord is with us, we are completely secure in His love, and He is faithfully carrying out His good work in us. No wonder we can come before him with joyful songs!
This joy we have in the Lord then saturates how we go about daily life—including what we do as an athlete or coach. Whether these responsibilities are exciting, mundane or somewhere in between, we recognize that participating in our sport is a gift from our good and loving God. Even unfavorable circumstances are opportunities for joy because of our confidence in the Lord’s faithfulness.
Respond to Psalm 100’s invitation to come to God with joy. As you trust Jesus and His ongoing good and faithful work, you can have unshakable joy in every dimension of your everyday life.
Go:
How does the invitation to come to God with joy encourage you or challenge you?
What does it look like to go about your responsibilities as an athlete or coach with joy?
Workout:
Overtime:
“Lord, I come before You with joy! I praise You for Your love for me and Your goodness and faithfulness to me. I pray that all I do today would be saturated with the joy I have in You. Amen.”