God’s Team
Reading for Wednesday, February 17
Luke 18:9-14
Throughout most of our life, we have been members of a team. Whether it was in youth sports, our personal life, our job or our spiritual life, we have been involved with a group where each of us have a part to play in the success of the group. Some parts are more glamorous than others, but by the time we get to adulthood, we understand that each spoke (person) has a specific job to do to help the wheel turn.
With that being said, we have all wished to be the superstar: the one that scores all the points, the one that makes all the money, the one that creates the idea, the one that gets to do the interview on TV. For with this notoriety, everyone will know who we are and how great we are. But as we have all learned, some sooner than others, that fame fades quickly.
However, what does not fade is the poise, or lack there of, in which we handle these situations. You can hit the winning three point basket to catapult your team to a championship, you can hit the walk-off home run and be mobbed by your teammates at home plate or you can visit that family with the dying loved one and present a gift or some words of advice that assist with their loss in a way that someone now puts you on a pedestal. But the question is, “How do you handle this?”
Do you applaud yourself or recognize the efforts of everyone else on the team? Do you relish in all the attention and quest for more, or do you deflect the publicity as it’s just part of the job and all of us have to our part to make each venture successful? In Luke18: 9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, we read “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
It is about how we go about our lives and witness to God’s word. It is about making every attempt to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. It is about the example we are to others. But it is not our job to tell people how great we are along that path. God will be our one and only judge. And if we are to stand before him in the highest court, with all of our sins and faults already being known, would it be better to try and sway him with discussion that we did more good things than bad, or would it be better to say, “I have fought the good fight. I have not been perfect in my life. God forgive me, for I have sinned.”
Brad Allison
Reading for Wednesday, February 17
Luke 18:9-14
Throughout most of our life, we have been members of a team. Whether it was in youth sports, our personal life, our job or our spiritual life, we have been involved with a group where each of us have a part to play in the success of the group. Some parts are more glamorous than others, but by the time we get to adulthood, we understand that each spoke (person) has a specific job to do to help the wheel turn.
With that being said, we have all wished to be the superstar: the one that scores all the points, the one that makes all the money, the one that creates the idea, the one that gets to do the interview on TV. For with this notoriety, everyone will know who we are and how great we are. But as we have all learned, some sooner than others, that fame fades quickly.
However, what does not fade is the poise, or lack there of, in which we handle these situations. You can hit the winning three point basket to catapult your team to a championship, you can hit the walk-off home run and be mobbed by your teammates at home plate or you can visit that family with the dying loved one and present a gift or some words of advice that assist with their loss in a way that someone now puts you on a pedestal. But the question is, “How do you handle this?”
Do you applaud yourself or recognize the efforts of everyone else on the team? Do you relish in all the attention and quest for more, or do you deflect the publicity as it’s just part of the job and all of us have to our part to make each venture successful? In Luke18: 9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, we read “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
It is about how we go about our lives and witness to God’s word. It is about making every attempt to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. It is about the example we are to others. But it is not our job to tell people how great we are along that path. God will be our one and only judge. And if we are to stand before him in the highest court, with all of our sins and faults already being known, would it be better to try and sway him with discussion that we did more good things than bad, or would it be better to say, “I have fought the good fight. I have not been perfect in my life. God forgive me, for I have sinned.”
Brad Allison