Be Coachable - Dave Egner Casey Seymour, a successful soccer player and coach, notes that everyone on his team hates the 10-by-100 drill that ends practice. Before the men can leave the field, they must run 100 yards 10 times at full speed with minimal rest. If they don’t beat a prescribed time, they have to do it again. The players hate it—until the day of the game. Then they find that they can play at full capacity for the entire match. Their effort has been rewarded with a championship! The apostle Paul used metaphors of training and competition in his letters. While he was a missionary to the Gentiles, he submitted to the instructions and drills of God amid great suffering and hardship. Twice in Philippians 4, he said, “I have learned” (vv.11-12). For him, and for each of us, following Jesus is a lifelong learning process. We are not spiritually mature the day we are saved, any more than a schoolboy athlete is ready for professional soccer. We grow in faith as we allow God through His Word and the Holy Spirit to empower us to serve Him. Through hardship, Paul learned to serve God well—and so can we. It’s not pleasant, but it is rewarding! The more teachable we are, the more mature we will become. As members of Christ’s team, let’s be coachable. Oh, it’s hard to learn the lesson, As we pass beneath the rod, That the sunshine and the shadow Serve alike the will of God. —Anon. God’s work in us isn’t over when we receive Christ— it has just begun. How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness. At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:10-19 NLT)
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 00:48:20 +0000
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