All In

I recently stumbled across this quote from basketball legend Pat Riley:

"There are only two options regarding commitment; you're either in or you're out. There's no such thing as life in-between." 

Now, he was ultimately talking about basketball. 
Talking about commitment to the team. 
Commitment to improvement. 
Commitment to hard work. 
Commitment to doing whatever it takes to make yourself better, faster, stronger. 
Ultimately, commitment to making yourself and your team the best they can be.

For some reason, Riley’s quote stuck with me all day yesterday and really, throughout the night. 
The question running through my mind...

“Are you all in?”

And in trying to answer that question for myself (much less for my family and those closest to me), one passage kept coming to mind over and over again.

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:34-40 NIV

All In...

Do I really love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength? 
Do I love Him with all that I am?

Am I... Are you... Are we... All in?

As I think about what that means as a Believer, I go back to what it means for an athlete and realize that commitment to Jesus is similar. 

Are we committed to Jesus? 
Committed to walking with Him on a daily, hourly, moment by moment basis? 
Committed to taking up our cross and following Him? 
Are we committed to strengthening our walk and our faith through prayer, Bible Study, time spent dwelling on Him and His Word? 
Are we willing to walk as He walked, talk as He talked, touch lives as He has touched lives? 
Are we committed to being all that He has called us to be as individuals and as a church as a whole? 
Are we committed and willing to go, to share, to teach, to learn, to live for Him? 
Are we committed to shine for Him?

There is no such thing as life in between.

Be “All In”

Keep the Faith... Carpe Diem