Will You Live Compelled or Convicted?

I watched an interview with Bobby Knight a couple of months ago and was fascinated at his approach to coaching. If you don’t know who Bobby Knight is, he was a college coach who used to get so mad that he would throw chairs across the floor at people and scream at his players, refs or anyone else who would listen. He is also known as one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball with an outstanding record and kids who came through his program and went on to play in the NBA with excellent careers.

I was not so much interested in his antics as his philosophy of coaching. As I listened to the interview, his words caught me off guard. The interview went to a time where Bobby had a kid in his program that was having family difficulties and Bobby made a special trip to be with the family. This is really unprecedented as Bobby was just a coach to the student and not a guidance counselor or sorts. The interviewer then asked him about his coaching style and he said, in essence, “I expect excellence in all aspects of the game and for every student to give me his very best at all times. The reason why I expect excellence is that I give my very best. I cannot expect excellence from my kids if I am not willing to offer that excellence myself.”
 
I then thought about what Jesus did for us in the simple verse John 3:16 and giving his life for our sins so that we could have direct access to God the Father. Jesus gave us his best, even his very life, so that we could have assurance of eternity along with tools to help us deal with the pain of life that will come. Then I thought about what we give Jesus back in trade for those sacrifices. I wasn’t thinking of it in the way of Jesus putting this crazy expectation on us beyond our physical ability to follow him, although there are plenty of Bible verses that talk about “dying to self” and putting him first in everything we do.
 
I want my life to be based on more than just conviction; I want to live a COMPELLED life.  Conviction from the Holy Spirit can point us in the right direction, but a compelled life is doing something about those feelings. Just like the players around Bobby Knight felt compelled to follow his lead and give their very best, I want my relationship with Jesus to be ordered in the same way. As we read the Bible, we need those words to cause action to be birthed in our lives because knowing what to do or being “convicted” about where we are in life is not enough to change.
​We need action. Jesus was and is about action and if we are going to be people who live life to the fullest, then we need to give our best as Jesus gave his very best.
 
Have a great week and I am praying for you!