Two Minute Drills from Coach Joe Gibbs

[Judy Harder]

An F for Effort

Just about everybody thinks they're good enough to at least squeak by into heaven. Put it all on balance, consider how hard they've tried, and God should be able to see they've done the best they could with what they had. They've been worse than some, sure, but better than most. When it's all said and done, if God's being fair, the scales ought to tip their way.

Well, there's the problem. The scales don't tip on the basis of being better than others. God's judgment has nothing at all to do with a person making good choices a certain percentage of the time. "When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise" (2 Corinthians 10:12). In fact, they're sadly deceived and mistaken.

If you're pinning your hopes on the outside chance that God operates on a sliding scale, hear what the Bible says: "It is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends" (2 Corinthians 10:18). And the only ones the Lord commends are those who are perfect—or those who've put all their trust in Jesus' ability to stand in for their imperfections.

"Whoever lives and believes in me will never die," Jesus said (John 11:25). Whoever lives and believes in himself will just die trying.

Pray this prayer: Dear God, I know I've been wrong to think I'm good enough to satisfy your high standards. Help me to see that I can never be what you want me to be until Jesus is living in me.

[Judy Harder]

How's Your Day Looking?

In Game Plan for Life, Os Guinness mentions this quote from a 90-year-old Winston Churchill: "Life has been a grand journey—well worth making once."

Once. That's all we get. No dry runs. No do-overs. This day you're living now is not a dress rehearsal  or a practice lap. You're on the stage. You're in the game. Start playing.

What this kind of thinking does is rip the disguise off today, revealing it to be every bit as momentous as the first morning on a new job or the night before major surgery. There are things to be said. Today. There are people to take notice of. Today. There are ordinary decisions to take seriously. Today. As the Bible says, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).

The newspaper commits a page or two each morning to dozens of death notices—guys who once supervised a work crew at the auto plant, who once coached boys' baseball on Saturday afternoons, who once served on the school board or were once active in the Rotary club. Once.

All those one-time daily things that could be said of you in the paper—about your family, your work, your interests, your passions—are they getting your best today? Clock's ticking down. Better get out there.

Pray this prayer: Dear God, I've been letting some things slide. I've been going whole weeks without my priorities being in balance. It's time to get this right. Show me what that means and how to get there.

[Judy Harder]

Up with People

The Bible says to "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:20). Which means what exactly?

We understand the part about not storing up "treasures on earth" (verse 19). We get it that we can't take our stuff with us into eternity. We never see a hearse pulling a moving van. We know that. But "treasures in heaven." What are those? And how do they become part of our life's purpose?

Every person you know or meet is an eternal being. Some, by God's grace and their faith in his son, Jesus Christ, will live with him forever. Some won't. But because each of us has an eternal soul, one way to store up "treasures in heaven" is by investing your life in other people—in your wife, your children, your work associates and employees, your neighbors, your friends, even people who cross your path in seemingly random fashion. We're not to regard them anymore "from a worldly point of view," the Bible says (2 Corinthians 5:16). We're to see them as a teller window for depositing our time, our attention, our concern, even just a kind "hello" made with deliberate eye contact.

Not every heavenly investment is transacted at church or in some other so-called spiritual setting. Just about anywhere you go, there's a branch near you.

Pray this prayer: God, help me to spend more time noticing the people around me and their needs—and less time focused on simply knocking out agenda items and daily objectives. I want my treasures in heaven, not here.

[Judy Harder]

Heaven: Harps Optional

One of the things Randy Alcorn accomplishes in his chapter on heaven in Game Plan for Life is to quiet our misconception that life after death for the Christian is going to be boring. A never-ending church service. All Christmas carols and choir books.

Actually, the Bible says heaven will be a total experience of newness  that touches everything about us and everything we do. Not just better singing and sermons. Not just better food options at church potlucks. Better everything. The very best of everything. Renewed, remade, reborn.

God has promised, "I will create new heavens and a new earth" (Isaiah 65:17), meaning that while we're going to live in a place we've never been before, it will contain perfected elements of things we've always known. But instead of fatigue and physical limitations, we'll have total freedom of enjoyment. Instead of sin's empty promises, we'll know constant satisfaction. Instead of having to lock our doors and watch our backs, we'll learn what it really means to live without fear. Of anything.

Don't go worrying that God is baiting you with free gift offers that are going to end up being a time-share presentation. These new heavens and new earth are His gift of undying, undiluted life to you. It's definitely something you don't want to miss.

Pray this prayer: Lord, I don't deserve the privilege of having this kind of hope in my future. But I'm so grateful—eternally grateful—that you desire this kind of life for me. Thank you for making it possible through Christ. Thank you for making it mine.

[Judy Harder]

Reversing the Trend

Whether from being left untended or from constant use, things will always be inclined to grow old and wear out. Knees will start to ache and catch. Gaskets will leak. Organization will trend toward chaos. The deodorant stick will shrink smaller and smaller. It's the nature of life. Downhill. Showing age.

It's even the nature of marriage. What starts with candlelight, tuxedo, and a minister's blessing slowly gives way to the late local news, complaints about your snoring, and fixing yourself the last piece of toast for breakfast. Where's a little romance when you need it? Probably not under warranty.

So whether you like it or not, today will be another battle against muscle loss and tooth decay. But to keep these same sorts of erosion from happening in your home and marriage, the Bible offers you the following prescription: "Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3:13) or by life's constant tendency to drag you down, if not drag you apart.

Marriage may never outgrow a few toilet seat disagreements. But yours can withstand—and even counteract—the effects of time and age. A little encouragement from you today can go a long way.

Pray this prayer: God, help me not to stand by while my marriage loses any more of its luster. Give me the kind of heart that keeps loving, keeps investing. Show me the best way to bless my wife today.

[Judy Harder]

First Things First

You may or may not be a list-maker. It doesn't really matter. Because whether you are or you aren't, we all live by a list. We all do what's most important to us—our ones, twos, and threes. The tens, twelves, and fifteens rarely make an actual appearance.

The same goes for our money. We may or may not live by a budget—(Ron Blue will get us for that)—but we have our reasons for spending and saving the way we do . . . or don't. Our first things come first, whether they're sound or just selfish.

Thankfully, the Bible comes right out and tells us what our first financial thing needs to be: "Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce" (Proverbs 3:9). Before one dime goes toward dinner out or a new DVD—or even toward your mortgage, insurance, and utility bills—giving to God through the church where you worship should come right off the top. First thing.

Or how easily it becomes a forgotten thing.

If this sounds a little too radical and expensive, seek out someone you know who manages their money by this principle. Ask if it's proven to be a bust to their financial health, a decision they've grown to regret. See if instead God hasn't opened up the "floodgates of heaven" and poured out on them a blessing "without measure" (Malachi 3:10). When the Lord comes first, everything else just falls into place.

Pray this prayer: I ask you, Lord, to help me realize that everything I own or earn comes from you. May I be grateful enough to honor you with my giving, and to grow my trust in you at the same time.

[Judy Harder]

Who's the Boss?

The life of an athlete requires answering to a lot of people: coaches, media, sponsors, and the public. So does yours, no matter what career you're in. There are clients and customers to serve, supervisors and upper management to please, shareholders and contributors to coddle—lots of people to cater to.

Game Plan for Life, however, introduces us to this simplifying concept: "the audience of One." The One, of course, is God. And His demand of you is your absolute best, your utmost integrity. He calls you to apply His commands in all your decisions and interactions.

In a perfect world, this kind of excellence would always be recognized and amply compensated. It would earn you the highest respect from your colleagues and coworkers. It would anchor your job security and even promise you steady promotion through the ranks. But even when it doesn't—even when it seems like no one is noticing—there is no satisfaction like knowing that God can say of you, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21).

The next time you start to feel unappreciated, undervalued, and overlooked, take your feelings of inferiority to the Lord in prayer. Let Him be the One with the last word on how valuable you are. When you're pleasing Him, you're doing your job.

Pray this prayer: Father, I pray that the only measure of my worth at work will be whether or not I'm honoring you with my very best. When I do things your way, may I be one happy, contented man.

[Judy Harder]

             
Watch It

One of the things you get in Game Plan for Life is some straight talk on some real stuff. But as sort of a bonus, you also get (here and there) a little ancient philosophy to go with your modern advice—like this, from the Greek thinker Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Any of us who struggle to keep our weight where the doctor says it should be or who've never met an excuse that couldn't talk us out of exercising—we know how easy it is for our personal health to go from managed care to total anarchy. Sometimes we exert a lot more energy examining what's in the pantry than we do examining what God expects of our overall fitness habits.

Health experts tell us that if we had to catalog or journal our calorie intake and our workout reps, most of us would be shocked at how much we consume and how little we burn off. But those who pay attention, those who consider it important to "examine" themselves, are the only ones who live in the truth of their situation. They don't trick themselves into believing that everything is okay when it isn't.

"So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled" (1 Thessalonians 5:6). Wake up and smell the coffee. And stay in charge of what you let in all day.

Pray this prayer: Help me develop the courage, Lord, to make deliberate decisions on how I handle myself, not letting life just come to me, but choosing to do right, choosing to be healthy.

[Judy Harder]

What Dad Says

If you've been a father for very long, you've heard one of your children say, "Dad, I remember you telling me..." And strangely, you may have no more than a dim memory of having said it. They were words that didn't really register as they were coming out but, for whatever reason, they sure did register coming in.

Maybe it was a stray memory you shared while you were out fishing together or running weekend errands. Maybe it was a harsh critique of the way they were performing a task or treating a sibling. Maybe it wasn't even something you were saying to them directly, but they were around, they heard it, they remember it.

Most dads don't think of themselves as men of powerful, memorable words. But... we are. All of us.

So on this day of celebration, enjoy the cards and the phone calls, act surprised at the necktie and the nail care kit, doze in and out of the U.S. Open on television. But also take the chance to say some special things to your children, wherever they may be.

King Solomon wrote of his father, David, "When I was a boy in my father's house... he taught me and said, 'Lay hold of my words with all your heart'" (Proverbs 4:3–4). Don't let everything your children remember you saying be offhand and incidental. Make a point of telling them what your heart really wants to say.

Pray this prayer: Heavenly Father, I want to be a dad who instructs and inspires my children the way you inspire me. Help me teach my children based on your Word that they may also mature in godliness.

[Judy Harder]

Forward Thinking

We've never been to a funeral, no matter how tragic or expected the person's death, when much of the service and the conversations surrounding it didn't center on memories of his or her life. We recall happier times we spent together. We reflect on what this individual was like. We regret that we won't be able to enjoy their smile or laughter anymore on earth.

We look back. That's all we humans really know how to do. To look back is to know. To look ahead is merely to guess and wonder.

But not for the believer in Jesus Christ. Our view looking forward, though lacking in some of the specifics God has chosen not to reveal, is one of confidence and knowledge, of hope and authentic anticipation. Randy Alcorn writes in Game Plan for Life, "As people age, they tend to look back at when they were at their best, knowing they'll never regain those days. But if you're a Christ-follower, you don't look back to your peak. You look forward to it."

Imagine being encouraged, as Randy says, that "the strongest I've ever felt is just a hint of what's to come." Imagine being sure that "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Romans 8:21). Imagine being able to look ahead . . . and know.

Pray this prayer: Lord, there's so much I don't understand. But as one who has given his life to you, I pray that you will settle my heart whenever I doubt your promises. Help me believe in your love for me.