Sorry folks, I sent this HTML last time round ... so I'll try again. It
really spoke to me today and I think it's worth passing on.
--
Carol
The One You're Playing For
My friend Ted was a high school football player; actually he was the
starting center. But the game he remembers most is the one he didn't play
in. All season,
the second string center, Billy, hadn't played much. Well, actually he hadn't
played very well. Until the day that Billy came to the coach and said,
"Coach,
I know you haven't felt I was good enough to start all season, but I want to
ask you to start me this one game. Please. It means a lot, and I'm only
asking
for a chance." The coach agreed and Billy amazed not only his coach, but his
teammates and his hometown fans by playing this incredible game. No one had
ever seen anything close to this kind of performance or ability from him
before. Needless to say, immediately after the game, the coach said, "Billy,
what
in the world happened? I didn't know you had it in you!" Billy's explanation
was something the coach and my friend would never forget. He said, "My dad
died last night, Coach. And he was blind, but not now. Tonight was the first
time my father could see me play!"
Let's talk about "The One You're Playing For."
For one high school football player, it made all the difference knowing his
father was watching him play. For every one of us who claims to belong to
Jesus,
that's what should determine how we play our position, too, knowing that our
Father is watching us play.
Jesus lived with that always in His mind. He said in John 8:29, "The One who
sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases
Him." And then in our word for today from the Word of God, Paul lays out for
us the ultimate reason we should do everything we do with all our heart. In
Colossians 3:23 and 24, he says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your
heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will
receive
an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are
serving."
The Bible says you and I should have only one way we do everything we do -
with all our heart. When you work, you work with all your heart. When you
pray,
you pray with all your heart. When you're listening to someone, you listen
with all your heart. When you're studying, right, you study with all your
heart.
When you play, you play with all your heart. When you're with someone, be
with them with all your heart. In the words of missionary martyr, Jim
Elliott,
"Everywhere you are, be all there!"
Why? Because your Heavenly Father who made you and who paid for you with the
life of His Son, is watching you. Don't play for the crowds. Don't play for
yourself. Play for the one person in the stands who matters most - your
Heavenly Father. He's the reason you do what's right. You don't want to hurt
Him.
He's the reason you knock yourself out. Your Father's the reason you stay
away from what's wrong. It's not the rules you're breaking, it's your
Father's
heart. And when no one else seems worth playing for anymore, remember you're
doing it for the one who's always worth doing it for!
It really simplifies your life and it reduces a lot of stress when you
decide who you're going to please - whose approval you're going to live for.
If
you try to live for the boss's approval, and for the approval of the people
you're with at this time, or for society's approval, or for the church's
approval
- well, you're going to be a chameleon, constantly having to change colors
based on the environment you're in. But you can be one person all the time
if
you decide there's only one person you're playing for; one person you have
to please. "I am playing with everything I've got because my Father - the
One
who loves me most - is watching me, and I'm going to make my Father proud!"
Stu
Stuart Swartz
616 E. Boothe
Cleveland, Tx. 77327
281-659-0629
[log in to unmask]
IF YOU WORRY, YOU DIDN'T PRAY. IF YOU HAVE PRAYED, DON'T WORRY.
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