Sunday Sports

I have recently been confronted with a problem. Two of my children are competitive swimmers and have been for about 3 years now. I think the fact that they are in a sport is a very strong learning tool for sportsmanship, teamwork, preparing, and so on. I firmly believe that youth sports (unforced) are one of the best teaching tools for how to treat others and how to harness a will to be the best you can be.

I am also VERY firm in my beliefs of the following:

1. NOTHING comes before God
2. The Man (Father) is the spiritual leader of the household (family)
3. As the spiritual leader of my household, it is my responsibility to make sure that the Lord is in our lives, and in a way that is welcoming so that the family does not feel forced, but wants to worship.
4. Sunday is the start of the week and the only way to start the week is in Gods house worshiping him.

The third one is the problem. Like I said I feel sports are a very important development tool. The children love to swim and the meets are the only way they can reap the values of their hard-work during practice.

The organizers of the swim league are, in my opinion, teaching a very bad lesson to these children. (age range from 4-16) They are scheduling these meets to last all weekend, and no matter what time your race is, all swimmers must arrive at the pool for warm up very early in the morning. They must also not leave until after they have raced. This is fine for Saturday, but this leaves no time for worship on Sunday. The coaches are (unwittingly I hope) placing swimming in front of God.

How is it that God has taken such a back seat to so many peoples lives that they will gladly go to a sporting event instead of Church! How are we supposed to teach our children about the value of worship and the love and faith of Jesus Christ when we are teaching them that the Lord can be worshiped when we find time?!?!

On that same token, ff I tell me children that they can not go to the meet because of Church. I fear that they will resent me for it and despise Church and the Lord as well because I "Forced" them to go. I want them to go because they want to, not because they feel like the have to.

I know that many professional sports are play on Sunday. The difference is, at every one of those events, there is a Church Service held in the site of the event so that the athletes can worship the Lord on Sunday.

Luke 16:13 - No Servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will devote to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Prayer:

Lord, I am trying to show my children that Your love, and faith in You, come second to nothing. I ask that You to please help me and guide me in this leadership path that I am on. The faith those children will have in You resides on the choices I make and the example I set. With out you in their hearts they will have no direction, they will have no purpose, and they will not be ready when Your Son comes back to us on the day of judgement.

Please help them understand that it's my love for them that wants them to open up so that they can feel Your love, and that as they grow up and have children of their own, they would be inclined to follow and continue what I have (with Your help) started now.

In Jesus' Name we Pray,

Amen