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Three empty crosses lay grotesquely across Golgotha’s barren and desolate knoll. The sun-dried blood, the convulsed earth, the litter of a mob all told the gruesome story of crucifixion. They had deserted Him, later found His tomb empty, and were now cowering in a house with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. In this house Jesus appeared to them.
As coaches and athletes, we put all of our hearts, bodies, and emotions into our endeavors. We’re instructed to “give it all we’ve got,” and as we do, we begin to understand what Paul was saying to the Colossian Christians.
Last week’s NCAA National Championship game between Duke and Butler was a classic and will be remembered for years to come. Regardless of who won (Duke, for anyone who missed it), the match displayed two well-coached teams, two well-devised game plans, and a match that was not decided until AFTER the final second ticked off the clock. Both coaches did their homework. They scouted their opponents and gleaned through every bit of information and video footage they could get their hands on. The players were well-informed, and everyone went forth with confidence that their plan would succeed.
I was listening to a song the other day. It's called "Give It All" by the band Rise Against. I usually listen to it for my warm-ups in sports. Everytime I listen to it, I get in my head, I'm going to give my all on this match, game, run, or whatever. But I got to thinking the other day, do we really give it OUR all?
Each new season starts out with a team meeting. The coach gives the team rules and goes over the expectations for the upcoming season. The coach makes sure that there is no question about what will be expected out of the athletes.
God is the ultimate head coach. Just as a good earthly coach goes over the rules, so does He. God gave His “team rules” to the Israelites through Moses, and He expected them to be followed.
When our earthly head coaches expect us to follow the team rules, they generally set out a reward. The reward might be a letterman’s patch or pin, or it could be lessened conditioning in practice. Whatever it is, the head coach makes sure that we know the rewards for following the team rules.
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson received plenty of coverage on last night’s NCAA Championship game with the anniversary of their classic game. Recently, I saw an interview where Magic Johnson was talking with LeBron James about the young man’s success in the league. The conversation eventually turned to former players who did so well in competition that they were simply known by one name or nickname. Athletes like MJ, Tiger, Junior, Kobe, Sweetness, Shaq, Magic, Dr. J, and now LeBron. James was honored to be considered part of such high athletic royalty, and he hopes that he will be around to see the next one-named guy come on the scene.
Paul writes in Romans and Jesus says in John that we are not to be of "this world" and in effort to doing so University of Mary FCA is taking on the BIG Challenge. I know what most of you are thinking... what is this BIG Challenge?
One of the highest viewed tv shows in America is called "Biggest Loser" which if you didn't know deals with people losing the most weight. Doctors have been telling us time and time again that being BIG is not a good thing, but here at UMary we think the opposite. BIG stands for Bring Incredible Glory, and that we what we are striving to do... not alone, but together in Christ. Which is where our verse of the year comes into play, "
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