|
Your
Game Plan
Do
you recognize this quote?
“Life
holds many pleasures for me, but nothing, nothing,
beats the thrill of playing on that field every
Sunday. Football
is my LIFE! Beyond
the field nothing else matters.
Nothing.”
The
quote will only sound familiar if you have seen the
Walt Disney movie entitled
“The Game Plan.”
The quote is made by Joe Kingman (played by
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), a professional
quarterback who, with his team, is vying for the
championship. Without
spoiling the movie for those who have not seen it,
Kingman learns that there is something more important
than football.
Yet,
even if you have not seen the movie, there is still
something strangely familiar about the quote.
Similar words are used to express the
priorities that we establish in our lives.
Let’s conduct a little self-examination.
Part 1: Complete this sentence:
“For to me to live is _______________.”
What
did you write in the blank?
Whatever you write in the blank reflects the
top priority in your life.
Consider
an answer that might be given in the world today:
“For
to me to live is to
accumulate wealth and possessions.”
This is
without a doubt one of the top priorities in the lives
of many people. As
one person has expressed it, “We buy things we
don’t need, with money we don’t have to impress
people we don’t even like.”
For
Part 2 of our self-examination, fill in the
appropriate words that reveal the results of the
pursuits of Part 1:
“For to me to live
is (your answer here),
and to die
is __________.”
Using
the popular answer above, observe how the sentence is
completed:
If
to live is to accumulate wealth and possessions, then
to die is to leave it all behind.
“For we brought nothing into this world, and
it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Timothy
6:7).
Thus
far, where does your “game plan” lead?
Now
observe how the Apostle Paul completed this sentence
– and expressed his top priority:
“For to me to live is CHRIST, and to die is GAIN.”
(Philippians 1:21)
Only
when our “game plan” is to live for Christ can our
death truly be considered gain.
How so? Because
living for Christ means to have our sins
washed away by His blood when we submit to Him with an
obedient faith: believing
and trusting Him (Acts 16:30-31), turning from our
sins in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confessing
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized
(immersed) into Christ (Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:26-27).
Living for Christ means to understand the
greatest purpose in life: to live to glorify Him (1
Corinthians 10:31).
Living for Christ means that death is truly
gain in that an eternal inheritance awaits the
faithful child of God (1 Peter 1:3-5).
In
the movie, Joe Kingman had to change his game plan in
order to get his priorities right.
In life, WE must change our game plans if we
would truly understand the key to the abundant life
now and ETERNAL life to come.
Won’t
YOU adjust YOUR game
plan?
David
A. Sargent,
Minister
Church
of Christ at Creekwood
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
To
Subscribe to "Living Water"
send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net
TEXT version: subscribe-livingwater-text@lyris.dundee.net
Follow
this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com
Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website
at: www.creekwoodcc.org
|
