Talk to any football coach and you will hear them talk in disgust about one set of stats that causes them so much grief week after week. It's the stat of penalties.

Every time the referee throws the yellow flag against your team it only means one thing: You are going backwards instead of forwards. The only way to keep this from happening is to make sure that every athlete on the field knows and understands the rules of the game.

2nd Timothy 2:5 - "Anyone who competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules".

As a child of God, we must realize God has rules for us to live by. When we go against His word we are just like the team with many penalties, we are going backwards instead of forwards. We must understand the rules of living a Christan life.

But many times on the field of the game, the players know the rules and understand what the wrong thing to do but they get so caught up in the play they allow themselves to do things before they even realize they are doing it. They know to watch the ball while on defense so they don't jump offsides but they have so much desire to get into the play they sometimes over react.

They know they can't hinder the receiver from catching the ball by constantly dragging him down to the ground but sometime we seem to do what we have to do to keep ourselves from getting beat.

Know the rules of the game when it comes to your walk with Christ. And by all means, focus on each play throughout your day and make sure you are not too zealous to over react or try pulling someone else down just to save yourself.

Prayer: "God, help us to know what is good and right in your site. But also help us to exercise what we know by making sure we remain pure with you."