“But Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him; for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior since his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock, I went out after it and attacked it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I grabbed it by its mane and struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So, Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” (I Samuel 17:33-37 NASB)
This past weekend I was thinking about coaching. For the record, I have coached children to championships in the PTO League, the public parks league, pick-up games in the neighborhood, and a packed with talent intramural team. I choose a team that won the Intramural Championship during my senior year in high school. Since I was the “captain,” I was kind of a coach. In a short stint coaching as a high school freshmen team due to the appointed coach’s absence because of illness, I achieved a .500 percent won-loss record. I call it an achievement because that freshmen team had not won a game all season when I took the helm, as they say. My pre-game talk always ended with these words, “Play the game as we practiced!”
No longer coaching in sports, aside from some individual tips to children on rare occasions these days, I consider myself a “Life Coach. Yes, a “Life Coach,” one who has preached over 2,000 sermons, taught over 3,000 Sunday School, VBS, and Bible Classes, and provided Biblical instruction from the word of God, feeding the sheep as I have been called to do. My pre-game speech incorporated in introductions may not include the exact words, but in my prayers and hopes, I am thinking at the end of a “coaching,” is “Go! Play the game as we practiced.” In other words, put the word we have diligently studied into practice. Afterall, “To do is to learn (Confucius).” Afterall, we have been challenged to live our lives based on what we “practiced” after taking in the words of Jesus serious, as in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). If we do that; if we play the game as we practiced or in short, apply the takeaways from the richness of God’s word, we will be well grounded. See the closing verses.
Yet, before skipping to the closing verses, let us not forget to arrive at the same conclusion that supports our admonition, when we look at the opening verses. David’s big game against Goliath was coming up quickly, just a few more verses ahead in I Samuel 17. First however, David refers to his practice of trusting the Lord in challenging situations or facing opposition in life that wanted to have victory over him. David had killed both the lion and the bear, and he was confident that the Lord would give him the victory over the big problem he was facing at the moment. David was going to play the game as practiced because he knew that the Lord was on his side.
Okay, it was supposed to be one of those “The Monday Short Meditations,” but I have to perform my role as a Life Coach and remind you as you go through this week, revisiting your basic teachings on trusting God to give you the victory, and even apply the word that was spoken to you as you heard the preached work, in person or virtually, as recent as yesterday. In other words, in this game called “life” or referred to you as your “Christian walk,” play the game just as we practiced it!” Live the life of a victorious champion! Realize you are more than a conqueror! Heed to the coaching of the greatest Coach ever to grace this earth with His presence. You have the “plays” given to you by the Lord Jesus!” Put them into practice. Have a great week! Play the game just as we practiced! Be blessed!
“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7: 24-25 NASB)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King