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

 

 

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The Cubs Win it All!

 

1 John 2:15-17

 

For the first time in 108 years, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series! The hero of the final game for the Cubs was Ben Zobrist. In the top of the 10^th inning, he hit a double driving in the go ahead run. In fact, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the whole series. But winning the World Series and being named the MVP is not what is most important to him.

 

"I think that we are all placed wherever we are to share the Gospel and the good news. And the good news is that we can all be saved from our sins. I am grateful to be able to bring that to the game and to my teammates, and to anyone I come in contact with. God's given me a great platform to be able to share that and I will do that as long as God's given me the breath to do it." (Taken from an interview with Tom Rust on Face to Face at www.facetofaceradio.com)

 

Here’s a man who on the surface has everything that the world has to offer. Fame, fortune and power; anything he desires he can have. Most of us will never experience anything close to this, but we still feel the pull of the world. In fact, John’s words strike

a little too close to home for us.

 

^15-17 Never give your hearts to this world or to any of the things in it. A person cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time. For the whole world-system, based as it is on human primitive desires, their greedy ambitions and the glamour of all that they think splendid, is not derived from the Father at all, but from the world itself. The world and all its passionate desires will one day disappear. But the person who is following God’s will is part of the permanent and cannot die.               J.B. Phillips translation

 

For 108 years, the Cubs chased after another World Series. Isn’t that what the world-system is based on; “human primitive desires, greedy ambitions and the glamour of all that they think splendid”?

 

Don’t get me wrong. I love sports and cheer for my teams; and I strive after things of

this world, but that’s just the point. We struggle every day to give our hearts to our Father; to love Him and not the world; and to follow His will.

 

Every day we face decisions that will reflect our love for Him… or not. Every day we struggle with the temptations of the world. Every day we fight the good fight so that in the end God will say to us, “Well done my good and faithful servant”.

 

 

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 www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com