What a crazy mixed up world we live in today where the air pressure of footballs (PSI) is the front page news overshadowing ISIS, train crashes, earthquakes and racial divide. I am intrigued by the energy it has created and the parallel it has with our faith. Think with me for a moment. The argument is around the regulated range of allowable psi for NFL game footballs. The assumption is that the footballs were designed to function best in that psi range. So why push beyond the design? Why risk being caught? Why compromise your integrity?
God created us to live within a divine PSI that would allow us to experience the most happiness from life, but we arrogantly begin to look at the margins of design for a better way. Many historians have claimed that the Greeks defeated Rome by pushing the Roman morality limits and introducing a hedonistic view of life. Pushing the limits of design means we move away from what was intended and best.
I believe we all struggle with this sinful pull toward the edges of how God designed us. We continue to look for an edge on life for our own pleasure and gain. We forfeit integrity for ourselves. We answer the inner longing in our souls by trying desperately to numb its pain. We rebel against our creator’s design. We find our selves deflating the very life given to us.
Where do we find the standard PSI for us as created beings? God has offered the Bible as our guide. It’s not a rulebook but a story of God restoring his creation that was lost from sin. I see God’s intent for my design as what is best for how he made me. That is not subjective for each person to decide but Truth. It’s a story of design and redemption for all humanity to understand. God is not some commissioner in heaven guarding the shield of faith waiting for you to break a rule. He is a God that is crying out to live how he created us to so that we might experience his best for us. In Romans 7 Paul writes about his own struggle of wanting to live as God designed but rebelling and doing the very things that he knows he was not designed for. Sound familiar? I realize that I can quickly become the “Deflategate Disciple” pushing the margins of design and deflating his design for me.
When a person is carried away with desire, lured by lust, and when desire becomes the focus and takes control, it gives birth to sin. When sin becomes fully grown, it produces death. James 1.14-15 (The Voice)
Troy A Murphy 