Reluctant Retiree

Our grandson plays high school football. He is a big man at about six feet two inches tall and around 250 pounds. The team uses him as a nose tackle on defense. That means he is lined up against two other large men on every play. He has to push and shove his way through these giants to reach his goal of tackling whoever has the ball. It is a daunting task.

We all face giants in our path. They come upon us as big problems or troubles. They seek to keep us from our goal of living happy successful lives. These problems want to distract us from living righteously and walking with God.

King David faced a giant when he was just a young man. This giant, Goliath, wanted to destroy, not only David, but all of God’s people. Goliath was certainly strong and well equipped for the fight. But David responded by saying, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” We all know the rest of the story. David killed Goliath with a slingshot.

But really, how did David succeed? First, he took his eyes off the giant and put them onto God. He knew the problem was big, but he also knew that his God was much bigger. Second, he placed his trust in God, not in his own strength and abilities. He came to the fight in the name of the Lord. Third, he did not fight in his own cleverness and wisdom. He used only what God had given him.

We should use the same successful strategy when faced with our own giant problems. Take our eyes off the giant problem and put them on God. Trust God, not our own strength. And rely on God to fight for us. The battle is the Lord’s. The victory is assured.

Before we moved into our new home, we had to have the carpet cleaned. There was one large rust colored spot in the dining room. We couldn’t identify the source of the spot, but we were sure that we couldn’t get it out ourselves. We needed to call an expert. He was able to remove the spot and the carpet was clean when we moved in.

Our lives are a bit like carpet. At times people walk all over us and leave their mark. The hurt and pain can’t be easily removed. Worse yet, sometimes our own actions leave their mark on the carpet of our lives. We spill a little jealousy here, a little anger over there, and a pile of lies in the corner. We try to cover the spots with good deeds, but there isn’t enough good deeds to cover the whole carpet. We need an expert to come into our lives and wash us clean from the inside out.

I Thessalonians 5:23-24 says, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” God offers to cleanse us from the ugly spots we have made in our lives. His offer was made through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. He can cleanse us and make us blameless before Him. This cleansing covers our whole body, soul, and spirit. Though this cleansing cost the Father the life of His own Son, He offers it freely to all. Won’t you accept this wonderful offer?

As we go about our day, it is the looking to the right or left that gets us into trouble. We know what we should do and we set our minds to do it. But somewhere along our path we notice something on our right that attracts us. We keep moving forward, but we also continue to glance to our right to look at the attractive thing. While looking to the right, we start to veer slightly to the right. As we continue to look right, we get further and further off the straight line and way off to the right. Eventually we give in and give our full attention to the attractive thing.

This is the way temptation works in our lives. We set a straight path to do good and right things. Then something grabs our attention. It could be the praise of others, a new shiny object we want to possess, attention from someone of the opposite sex, money, or a host of other things. Soon we are consumed by thoughts of our distraction and have to have it. Then we find we have drifted far off the course we had set for ourselves, and we don’t know how to get back on course.

I Corinthians 10:13 gives us hope when it says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” The way to stay on the correct path is to always look straight ahead. There you will find Jesus offering you the strength and courage to stay on the path. Keep looking straight ahead to Jesus and the distractions on the right and left diminish in their attractiveness.

While I was growing up I played a lot of sports. Unfortunately, it seemed that I was always on bad teams. So bad in fact, that my teams inevitably won the “Sportsmanship” trophy, given to us mainly because we didn’t give up while losing most of the time. Frankly, I didn’t like that. I wanted to win.

Several years ago, Herm Edwards, professional football coach, gave a press conference after losing a game. He got a bit frustrated with the questioning and summed up his frustration by emphatically stating, “We play the game to win!” The video of his statement went viral and is famous in the sports world. It reflects the attitude and heart of every athlete. Athletes and coaches are consumed with thoughts of winning.

While participating in sports, I did my best to win. Unfortunately, there are many areas of my life that I didn’t always do my best. Sometimes I just gave a minimal effort to get a job done or fulfill a responsibility. What kind of an impact could I have made if I always gave my best to my wife, my family, my church, my job, my friends, and my community? Paul writes to the church in Corinth, encouraging them to give their best by saying: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”

Life is a marathon with many opportunities to make a positive impact. Let’s give it our best under the guidance and in the power of God!

Watching the news on television, we are presented with one expert after another. Health, pandemic, weather, economic, political and even sports experts give their views and prognostications about events. Their credentials and previous experiences are not presented, so we can’t really evaluate their expertise.

I have always been a little bit skeptical about anyone purporting to be an expert. I want to know their credentials and education, but I also want to know how successful they have been in their field. For instance, I will only listen to a financial counselor who is at least better off financially than I am. I only listen to nutritional advice from someone who is healthy. Making predictions, even based upon experience and education, is serious business. Forecasts and prognostications should be carefully thought out by qualified professionals.

The Bible gave severe warnings to those who claimed to have a prophecy from God. These so called prophets were to be stoned to death if their prophecies were not one hundred percent correct. I wonder how many of the television experts would still be living if they were held to the biblical standard of perfection.

I Corinthians 8:1-3 says, “This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” God is not impressed with anyone who purports to be an expert. The expert’s knowledge is limited and doesn’t compare to the full knowledge that God possesses. But how much better is love than knowledge. Knowledge serves the possessor, while love serves everyone. Seek to build up others through love.