Making Dad Proud

Hebrews 13:1-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2013%3A1-17&version=NIV;NLT

 

Growing up there wasn’t anybody that I wanted to make proud of me more than my Father. I desperately needed his love and approval, and I’d do anything to get it.

 

Before my senior year of high school, my Dad got a job in a different state. Because I wanted to finish school with my childhood friends, my parents made arrangements for me to live with a family friend.

 

With plans to leave soon, my parents came to the last football game that they would ever see me play. The problem was that I spent most of my time on the bench.

 

Desperately wanting to get into the game to do something special, the coach called my name. I wanted to do something, anything to make my Dad notice me; to make him proud; to make him stand up and yell, “That’s my son!”

 

Hebrews 13 gives us a lot of ways to please God. In the first paragraph alone, the writer says to love one another; to show hospitality; to remember those that are in prison;1 and to comfort those who are suffering.

 

He also reminds us that God is always with us; that he will never leave us; that he is the same “yesterday, today and forever”; and that Jesus suffered and died for us to make us holy. And how are we to respond to who God is and what He has done?

 

¹⁵ Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.           NLT

 

In the moment of that high school football game, I would have run through a brick wall for my Dad. Instead, I picked out an overweight defensive lineman who was huffing and puffing about twenty yards from the ball carrier and leveled him with my best block ever. My Dad never mentioned the play.

 

But I have a Heavenly Father who is always with me; who loves me the same as He did yesterday, today and tomorrow no matter what I do or don’t do; who loved me so much that He sent His one and only son to die for me.

 

That’s the Dad that I want to make proud of me.

 

 

 

 

Two-A-Days

Romans 12:1-3

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012%3A1-3&version=NIV;AMP

  

Traditionally, this is the time of summer when two-a-day football practices begin.

As the name implies, two-a-days are where players participate in two practices every day… for two weeks… in the heat of August.

 

It’s a time that separates the men from the boys. It’s a time when you run to the point of exhaustion… and then get sick. It’s a time when you have muscles ache that you didn’t even know you had. It’s a time to prove yourself.

 

The purpose of these grueling practices is to get into shape physically. But it is also to get into shape mentally. In effect, it is the coaches saying to you, “You’ve had all summer to do whatever you wanted to do, and now you’re mine”!

 

By spending more time with the players, the coaches can establish the culture of the team. They stress sacrifice, discipline, and commitment. It’s an emphasis on team over individual. In some ways, that’s what Paul was calling the Roman believers to do also; a fully committed sacrificial life.

 

Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.

 

Then, like the coaches demanding a radical change from the summer, Paul calls for the Romans to a life of change; a transformed life.

 

² And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].          AMP

 

Two-a-days are a physical, mental and emotional boot camp to prepare players for a season of football games. As Christians, we need “two-a-days” that prepare us spiritually, emotionally and mentally for life. These two-a-days come through worshiping the Living God by offering your bodies as a living sacrifice with all your heart, soul, mind and strength in everything you do and say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some other verses that you may fine helpful.

 

 

Mark 12:30-31 New International Version (NIV)

 

³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

 

Romans 6:13 New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

 

2 Corinthians 3:18 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

(The word used for transformed in this verse, is the same Greek word that is used when Jesus is transfigured.)

 

1 Peter 2:4-5 New International Version (NIV)

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coaches! Who needs ‘em!

2 Timothy 3:1-2, 10-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Timothy%203%3A1-2%2C%202%20Timothy%203%3A10-17&version=NIV;NLT

 

My experience with high school coaches was not very positive. First off, they always called you by your last name. They couldn’t say Joe; it had to be “Hey Williams”. It wasn’t very friendly. Secondly, they always yelled at you like you had committed the worst unpardonable sin; as if there was something wrong with you personally.

 

I remember one football practice when I was blocking a defender and the running back ran into me. The coach yelled, “WILLIAMS! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!!!” My thought was, “What about the running back. Couldn’t he have run around me instead of into me? Why don’t you yell at him”?  But, like I said, it was a “thought”.

 

My coaches were never encouraging. Their instructions were always negative; putting you down; saying what was wrong with you. To make things worse, they did this not just to you privately, but in front of the whole team; all of my peers that I wanted to impress... Coaches! Who needs ‘em!

 

However, Paul was Timothy’s coach. He wrote 2 Timothy while in prison, knowing that his time on earth was short. He wanted to instruct and encourage Timothy in his faith. Here’s what he wrote to his “dear son” in the faith.

 

¹⁰ You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹ persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet

the Lord rescued me from all of them.

 

¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.     NIV

 

Paul was preparing Timothy for ministry by instructing him, in the context of their relationship, while living out his life before him. Granted, scripture is to be used, not just for teaching and encouragement, but also “rebuking and correcting”. But Paul makes the point that this is done in the context of a loving, patient relationship with an eye towards the Lord.

 

Coaches! Who needs ‘em! We do! Life is full of pit falls, hardships and struggles. You can’t avoid them. How you handle your struggles is what makes the difference. How do you learn from those problems? How do you grow? Who helps you?

 

Scripture tells us that God disciplines those He loves. He does this through, scripture, relationships and life experiences… even coaches. The struggles of life often provide the greatest opportunity for us to strengthen our faith and grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

Hopefully, each one of us will be able to give everything that we have; leave it all out on the field of life; give 110%; and to be able to say with Paul:

 

⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.    2 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV

 

 

(If God has spoken to you through this blog, please feel free to share the link with others.)

http://lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blind Side

1 John 3:16-20

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%203%3A16-20&version=NIV;NLT;MSG

 

¹⁶ This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.      MSG

 

One of my favorite movies is Blind Side. It’s the story of a wealthy white couple that adopts an adolescent black boy who is from a very poor background. Although he eventually played in the National Football League, before being befriended by this family, his odds of ever overcoming his life circumstances were virtually zero.

 

The adoptive family went out of their way to help this young man who was homeless, by first providing him a place to stay for the night and eventually adopting him as a part of the family. The bottom line was that someone noticed him, believed in him, loved him and sacrificed for him.

 

Jesus spoke about this kind of love when he said, “love your neighbor as yourself”. He

then explained through the story of the Good Samaritan, that our “neighbor” is defined as anyone in need that we are aware of. He doesn’t give us any disclaimers to justify excluding anyone.

 

^18-20 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living, truly living, in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.     MSG

 

Henry David Thoreau wrote, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them." How depressing; but when you show love to another person, you are affirming their dignity; their value; their purpose for living, and at the same time affirming your own.

 

What would you be willing to sacrifice for a homeless adolescent? For someone leading a life of quiet desperation? For the guy who cut you off in traffic? For the person who stepped over you to get the promotion instead of you? For the prostitute on the street? For the sexual offender in your neighborhood?

 

Who is your neighbor?

 

 

 

Other passages that relate to this topic of sacrificial love:

Romans 5:7

John 10:11-12         
Matthew 25:31-46

 

 

(If God has spoken to you through this blog, please feel free to share the link with others.)

http://lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Gentlemen, This is a Football.”

Luke 22:14-20

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2022%3A14-20&version=NIV;NLT

 

In 1960, the Green Bay Packers had a devastating loss in the NFL finals. The following year, Vince Lombardi started his pre-season training camp with the basics. “Gentlemen, this is a football.” This is what coaches, teachers and employers do; they start with the fundamentals of the job that is in front of you.

 

Understanding the Bible is the same way. You start with the basics; the fundamentals. One of the Biblical basics is understanding the difference between the Old Covenant, found in the Old Testament, and the New Covenant, found in the New Testament.

 

One is about the Law; the other grace. One is about rituals; the other relationship. For some, the two shall never meet. In reality though, they are both a part of the same story. Together, they tell the history of God’s plan of redemption. They tell the story of God’s covenant with Israel, and with all those who believe and have faith.

 

The Old Covenant was confirmed in Exodus 24 with many animal sacrifices being

made.

 

⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar… ⁸ Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”                       NIV

 

The New Covenant was confirmed during the Passover Feast with Jesus and his disciples in the Upper Room.

 

²⁰ After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.                      NLT   

 

Like the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant, Jesus shed his blood to establish the New Covenant so that we might be forgiven. The difference being that Jesus is the pure Lamb of God sacrificed once for all so that no other sacrifices are necessary.

 

In order to be the best football players and team that they could be, Vince Lombardi

instructed his team in the basics. As followers of Christ, should we do any different?

 

 

 

(If God has spoken to you through this blog, please feel free to share it with others.)

http://lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com/