0:00 Question five. I like watching and playing sports like cricket and football, but how can I ensure I don't become addicted to sports and yet still have a healthy interest in sports? So, can I have a healthy interest in 0:19 sports without being addicted? >> Absolutely. I will tell you now I'm in my uh mid4s and I have a very healthy interest in sports. I love watching sports. I'm not addicted to it. I was once addicted to it as some of you were. 0:36 Um and it was a transformation for me to be careful of anything can become an idol in my life. It's not just the lust of the eyes. Anything that becomes an idol in my life is sin. And the more I sought to pursue a life with Jesus of 0:54 intimate fellowship with my heavenly father, I can't explain it. The more I was I was serious about that in the last 15 20 years, I would say, you know, there's the song which says, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of this 1:09 world will grow strangely dim." And I can say that's been the testimony of my life. They've grown strangely dim. my interest in music. I used to listen to a lot of music, watch a lot of sports, but they just grew strangely dim, which 1:25 means not that I I don't do it. It's like the stars in the sky. It's not that they're not there, but the sun just grew brighter and brighter and brighter. And I hope you can experience it at an earlier age than I experienced that 1:38 where as a teenager the son of spending time with Jesus not as a chore not because your parents told you to do so or because you feel like it's a burden to do so but there's a joy and a pleasure that comes from that of saying 1:51 Lord I want to spend time with you. I want to talk to you. I want to have a open phone line conversation with you. That's what prayer is. You may not even be talking but you're saying I'm ready to listen for anything you have to say 2:02 to me. And I can say that that is really like the sun growing brighter and brighter. And then these other things, they're there. They're they're okay. But it's okay if I miss them. There may be there's, you know, there's a test match 2:20 between England and India going on right now. But yeah, if the the youth meeting, the teens meeting is more important because I want to hear about the things of God. But after that, I might turn it on and watch it for a little bit. That's that's 2:33 okay. But it does not consume me. It does not it does not become my addiction. Many of you set alarms for your favorite games to wake up early to watch the UEFA Champions League or to um to um watch a particular match in the 2:51 middle of the night. Would you set an alarm to listen to the word of God? Do you anticipate the night? What do you anticipate on the night? watches what game you're going to watch. The previous verse before that in Psalms 119 says, "I 3:07 wake up even before dawn to cry out to you." So when you next time you're setting an alarm for a game or waking up early, remember that the reason that you should be waking up early is to cry out to God first. To cry out to God first. 3:22 The reason you may be staying up late at night, it's not to watch that sport. It's to meditate on God's word. But at the same time having a healthy interest in sports, playing sports, watching sports, absolutely nothing wrong with 3:34 that as long as it is in moderation and it is not consuming you and it's not taking the throne that God has in your life. And to this day, there's sports I enjoy watching. There's sports I enjoy playing, but they are strangely dim 3:50 compared to the bright light of Jesus in my life.
