ID

Newsflash: I'm a sports fan.

Ok, that's not news, unless you don't know anything about me.

A few days ago, last Thursday to be exact, a little thing called the NFL started the regular season. My favorite team played for the first time this season last night. Not a great game, but that's not completely relevant.

Yesterday, when I woke up I decided to go to the gym to workout. Well, it was also game day so I wanted to rep my team all day. So I put on a t-shirt and went to the gym.

After getting back and getting cleaned up I put on the jersey that I planned to wear the rest of the day. Like all other jersey's it had a players name on the back, was the colors of the team, and had the teams logo on the jersey as well.

All things that clearly displayed that I was identifying myself with that team. But it got me thinking about that topic, identification.

I'll get into it some more after the jump :)
Now, I  know that the scenario that I described above is not unique. The scenario is actually really common. Every day we identify ourselves with a myriad of different possibilities. Companies (Nike, Abercrombie, Armani, etc.) or bands or teams or just anything. We put the labels on and can be identified by the style, the apparel.

My mentality yesterday, and a bunch of other days as well, was to represent and align myself with the team. I did it.

But those things don't matter. They have a personal value but they don't matter.

What matters is identifying ourselves with Jesus each day. Some people get tattoos to that end, others just wear t-shirts or maybe just have a couple bumper stickers. The how isn't the most important thing to me. The what is key. Follow Jesus. Identify with Him, daily.

But understand that doing that, getting a tattoo or wearing a shirt or even just talking about Jesus sets up a person for a very strict standard. As an aside, one that is almost universally not applied to any other system of faith.

The smallest missteps can be held onto  as the most grand and damning of evidence against God and His people (even though people, who on a modern daily basis, commit genicide against others yet are basically excused for it).

Identification with Jesus makes things tougher. The standard of the Bible makes things tougher. As cliche as it is to say it, even though life gets tougher as a follower, an identifier with Jesus life becomes so much more improved at the same time.

I don't want to or actually think I am capable of listing all the ways that being an identifier with Jesus makes things tougher but it does. In this life and in eternity it does make things better though.

So yeah, go ahead and identify with all the brands, teams and companies that there are but make sure you identify, follow, surrender to Jesus.