“I will bleed to make it happen,” said the young player about the Major League Baseball draft. “I’m going to be drafted.” I believed him because I knew him, I knew his work ethic, I knew his drive, I knew his hunger.

It’s amazing how a goal can shape a life. A vision of what could be drives many people to achieve what others thought could never be done.

Proverbs 16:26 highlights this–“A worker’s appetite works for him, for his hunger urges him on.”

What urges you on?

What do you want?

More importantly (far more importantly), what does God want you to pursue?

In the Scripture, we are told plainly on many occasions that God wants something from us. No, it’s not something we do in order to earn his love and grace. Those are both to be freely received by faith. Instead, it’s what he wants from us after our lives have been invaded by his love and grace.

Both on and off the field, God wants us to be people of integrity. Play hard. Live according to Scripture. Follow Jesus.

Both on and off the field, God wants us to be people of love. For even those who are hard to love.

Both on and off the field, God wants us to be people of mission. If you’re a believer in Jesus, your mission is simple: make more disciples of Jesus.

What if we allowed those things to urge us on? What if we were daily hungering more for integrity, love, and mission?

What if we were willing to bleed to make those things happen?

None of them will guarantee you’re a draft pick, but they will guarantee that your attitudes and actions please your Heavenly Father. Press on toward that.

Lord Jesus, make me a person of integrity, love, and mission. Urge me on each day. Make me hungry toward those things. Let that be my vision. Amen.