Letting Go

So today I heard something about the NFL Draft and I realized I'd miss it while I'm in China. Who cares, right? Well, me. I really enjoy watching the NFL Draft. But then I realized something even worse, the Sabres are actually going to make the NHL playoffs this year (that's not the bad part) and I'm going to miss the 1st round (that is the bad part).

3 years ago while I was preparing for my 1st trip to China, I remember being super upset that I'd miss such things. I think sports have been an idol in my life. Drury elaborates on the idea of love for sports as a false religion:

We have our Holy seasons of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, but the god of Sports offers the World Series, the Super Bowl and the Final Four...The really dedicated adherents of the god of Sports memorize and recite the Mighty Acts of the saints, now canonized into their respective halls of fame. Some fans even take the pilgrimage to these hushed galleries to admire their wax figures, and many trade their faces on trading cards like holy icons...There are mysterious rituals like face-painting and end-zone dances. Hey, Sports has all the elements of a great religion! Sports offers high emotion, stories of grit and determination, pain and sacrifice, victory and defeat. And it all occurs in a gigantic structure in the center of town, reminiscent of medieval insistence that the local cathedral be the highest building in town, thus projecting its importance and might.

When I realized what I'd miss today, I was briefly upset. But I was less upset than 3 years ago. I am thankful that God is helping me to let go of this rival king in my heart. It may sound stupid to some of you that I held sports so tightly, but I did. The blunt teachings of Christ about the kind of committment He's commanding have loosened my grip on sports (and more accurately, its grip on me).