Keeping Score? Not Any More! (Chapel A Day 2016: Day 2)
What was the score of the last Super Bowl? The last World Series? The last test you took in high school? Or college?
I thought about that today, as I sat in the tiny hospital chapel on this second day of Lent. This year, like the year before that, and the year before that… I am trying to discipline myself to give up one hour of my time a day to spend doing nothing but focusing on God, and whatever it is that He wants me to do in this world.
For the first 30 minutes that I sat in the chapel, I: 1) focused on the cross, 2) knelt at the kneeling bench, 3) read scripture, 4) prayed, 5) dozed off. (Look.. it’s Lent. I ain’t gonna break one of the Big 10.)
Then, my eyes fell on the devotional booklet, “Our Daily Bread.” I decided to open it and read today’s entry. It was about keeping score.
Keeping score can be a good thing, if you are trying to become better at whatever task, or test, led to you being scored in the first place. But, it can also be a dangerous thing. Keeping score of the wrongs people have done to you (perceived or real,) your own faults, the faults of others, the times people have let you down…the times you’ve let yourself down… the times God has let you down… can be, well… a real downer.
So, in today’s Chapel A Day, I prayed that God will help me stop being a scorekeeper. At least for the next 39 days. Instead of racking up points against the opposing team, I’ll try to keep the scoreboard clear. It might be pretty freeing to…
Let. It. Go.
Maybe you need to clear the scoreboard, too. Because, really… like the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the last tests we took in high school and college.. maybe, just maybe… the score isn’t the most important thing. Maybe.. just maybe.. it’s the way the game… and our life… is played.