Pumped!
Theme of the Week: Fight the Flab
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: Work hard so God can approve you. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed … (2 Timothy 2:15) Bonus Reading: 2 Timothy 2:3-7
A small-town high school football team in Oklahoma had felt the agony of defeat all too often. This was in the 1930s, before it was illegal to offer monetary incentives to high school kids. As James Dobson tells it, a local car dealer decided the community had suffered enough. Following a Friday night loss, he asked to speak to the boys. In a dramatic locker room speech, he told the students and their coaches that if they beat their bitter rivals next week, he'd give each player a brand-new Ford. The team went wild with anticipation.
On that fateful Friday night, expectations ran high in the stands and on the field as the team kicked off. The final score? They lost 38 to 0. A seven-day emotional high, it turned out, didn't make up for the team's lack of discipline. They had a losing record because they didn't do their conditioning drills or study their playbooks. Without training and practice to back up their newfound emotion, they were still the same pitiful team.
It's the same on the field of our spiritual lives. 2 Timothy 2:3-7 says that pursuing godly traits isn't always easy. But we need to work hard to achieve them—or miss the thrill of daily spiritual victory.
—Dan Deal in Power Up!
My Response: Am I willing to train steadily to build spiritual strength?
Thought to Apply: Discipline is the basic set of tools required to solve life's problems. —M. SCOTT PECK (physician, author)
Adapted from Sports Spectrum Power Up! (9-10/01) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
Lord, I want to become a disciple You can count on; grant me self-discipline to get started.
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