Leave It on the Field

I just returned from ministering at a leadership camp called Super Summer. We challenged ninety four students in our group to leave it on the field by giving God their best in worship, listening to Bible Studies, and giving their all on the recreation field. Despite the heat, humidity, and the grueling schedule those students and seventeen adults gave their all and we brought home the spirit flag on the first day.
Next, we challenged those students to leave it all on the field for God once they returned home. What does leaving it on the field really mean? I am sure many people would define it differently but for me it means giving maximum effort and when it is all said and done you are able to walk away knowing you gave your best, you held nothing back, and you expended all your energy in a worthy cause.
We are living in a society where fewer and fewer people know what it means to leave it on the field. We have learned to do just enough to get by. We become adapt at cutting corners, accepting mediocrity, and being content with less than excellence. You notice this in restaurants where wait staff seem bothered if you need their services or in stores where sales clerks seem put out if they have to actually offer you some assistance. This can also be seen in hospitals where nurses are not prompt in responding to the patients call button when pressed and by manufacturers who are called into question when selling faulty merchandise.
I notice it on the athletic field and in the weight room where fewer people give all they have in the cause of victory. Leaving it all on the field requires perspiration, leadership, inspiration, perseverance, and the indomitable will to not quit regardless of what the odds are. Leaving it on the field means inspiring others to do the same by setting the example.
I wonder what would happen if parents would leave it all on the field in nurturing and training their children. Teachers would not have to spend so much time disciplining unruly children in the classroom who have not been disciplined at the home because some parents take the path of least resistance. If parents gave their all, they would invest in children seeing their potential rather than seeing children as unwanted intrusions.
If employees left it on the field as well as the employers we would not be facing this economic downturn. Both owner and workers would work mutually for the benefit of the other and goods and services would be produced offering excellent value for the customer. What we often see instead is corporate offices thinking only of themselves with bigger salaries and more demands on the employees while not compensating those employees fairly. This is bad for morale and I don’t think you have to walk very far to see there are many disgruntled workers who feel taken advantage of and as a result they give half hearted effort and do just enough to get the job done and get a pay check. Thankfully there are exceptions to this rule.
Christians are not exempt either. Just enough devotion and service are given to God so as to blend in with the rest of the crowds in church. Mediocre service and worship is given in response to maximum sacrifice and love poured out when Jesus died on the cross. Jesus’ redemptive death on the cross is stunning. I have sat there at the foot of the cross in my mind many an hour contemplating what exactly He did for you and me. He took our sin, our punishment, God’s wrath, and bore all of it so that you and I might be reconciled to God and given everlasting life. Simply amazing. [Rom 5:8-9]
If we are really leave it on the field for Christ what does that mean? It means [Rom 12:1] In response to the incredible mercy of God we lay our whole lives and our physical bodies on the altar as an act of worship. We sincerely cry out to God that we will go anywhere and do anything for Him. We humbly offer our lives as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto Him leaving it all on the field of service for Him. Isn’t that the point of [Col 3:23-24]. Let us not be hypocrites who want the maximum reward from Jesus in forgiveness of sins and everlasting life but only wanting to give minimum effort in response. Leave it all on the field. Pray hard. Love deeply. Testify loudly. Give generously. Serve passionately. Leave it all on the field. Leave this life with no regrets, no shame, and no excuses.
Give Him your all. All of your days should be expended in your desire to know Him and to serve Him. Leave no doubts as to where your allegiance lies. March under the banner of God’s amazing grace and beckon others to join your triumphal march.
While leading our yellow school on the recreation field I made mention to some students a few times that it was a “two sweat day.” It had been a while since I had last felt the oppressive sultry heat of an East Texas summer which caused the sweat to bubble up on my forearms and beads to run down my back. What I meant was that as I jumped, cheered, rallied the troops, and called for our school to leave it on the field, I sweated through two shirts every day. I sweated through my white Hanes under shirt as well as perspiring through my yellow t-shirts I wore over the undershirt. When I left the recreation field every day I could not have been anymore soaked if you have squirted me with a water hose. Both my shirts were wringing wet and my hats were drenched from the perspiration from my head and brow.
God wants us to give all we have making it a two sweat day as we leave it on the field. He sees all and will reward such effort, if not in this lifetime, it will be rewarded in eternity. Leave it all on the field in your next worship service, your job performance, your parenting, and your living. Jesus deserves it.