Sunday night most of us witnessed a clash of titans – giant heavy weights constantly trying to outdo each other. Highly trained, skilled, and motivated entities making plays to capture our nation’s attention – and that was just the commercials! Ha! In the football game, we saw the Falcons take a 28-3 lead into the middle of the 3^rd quarter. Their only job for the next 22 minutes (“football minutes” my wife would say) was to hold their ground. Stand pat and simply waste time on the clock and New England had no chance – but that’s not what happened (I won’t spoil it in case you’re waiting to watch on TIVO – haha!)

Why is it so hard to hold our ground spiritually sometimes? I counsel and pray for so many people who are trying to get back to some place spiritually. That’s a worthy goal and the path to retake ground that we’ve given up will often look and smell the similar to when we took it the first time.

Take Bible reading for example – many of us at one time were reading through large portions of Scripture almost daily. What if taking that ground this time means listening to the Bible? What if it means studying in depth and connecting with God intellectually? What if it means reading one verse per day and meditating and thinking about that one verse all day long? Bringing this back around, the Falcons can’t win the Super Bowl by just sitting back on a 28-3 lead – holding our ground is more nuanced than that. Here are some tips . . .

• Holding ground doesn’t mean being passive.
• Holding ground still involves creatively engaging with God in all different ways.
• Holding ground will look different in the future than it did in the past.
• If you’ve taken ground spiritually, you’re now charged with holding that ground. Occupy the space, explore and master it.

Where have you given up ground in your life? Where have you given up ground in your spiritual life? What’s the strategy to take it back?