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Calling the Shots
Roger
Staubach was the quarterback of the 1971 World
Champion Dallas Cowboys. However, he admitted up to
that point it was a trial for him not to call his own
plays. Coach Tom Landry sent in every play from the
sidelines. He told Roger when to pass, when to run,
and only in emergency situations could he change the
play (and he had better be right!).
Even
though Roger considered Coach Landry to be a genius of
football strategy, his pride said that he should be
able to run his team. Roger later admitted, "I
faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to
obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and
victory."
Harmony,
fulfillment, and victory! Are
these not the very things that all of us want in our
lives? We
want harmony in our relationships.
We want fulfillment in our lives.
We want to be victorious over the challenges in
life.
Just
as Roger Staubach learned, the key is OBEDIENCE –
not to a football coach, but to the Lord of lords - JESUS
CHRIST.
Jesus
taught in word and life how to have HARMONY
in our relationships.
Most importantly, however, He made it possible
for us to have harmony with God (2 Corinthians
5:18-21). Sin
separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2), but Jesus died
on the cross as payment for our sins (Ephesians 1:7).
We are reconciled to God through His Son, Jesus
Christ, when we respond to His love believing
in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), repenting
of sin (Acts 17:30-31), confessing
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized
(immersed) in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:38; 22:16).
Then one continues to live in harmony with God
– being continually cleansed by the blood of Jesus
– as he continues to walk in the light (1 John 1:7).
Following
Jesus also brings FULFILLMENT
in our lives. Through
Jesus we understand the purpose of life and the goal
of life. The
purpose is to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31), and
the goal is to live eternally with Him in heaven
(Revelation 21:1-4).
“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to
obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should
live together with Him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10).
Through
Christ, we also have VICTORY
– victory over self, sin, and death!
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my
beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your
labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians
15:57-58).
The
scriptures make it clear that "it
is NOT
in man to direct his own steps“ (Jeremiah
10:23). "Calling our own plays” leads to
division, defeat, despair, and destruction (Proverbs
14:12). Only
when we learn to obey our “Coach,” the Lord Jesus
Christ, will there be harmony, fulfillment, and
victory! You
and I must face the issue of obedience.
Have
YOU obeyed Him?
--
Rick Whittle / David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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