In Season and Out of Season

2 Timothy 4:1-5

I will admit to you, I am not an avid sports fan, but I do enjoy a good game. Last night was the best Super Bowl I have ever seen. One play stood out to me, as I’m sure it did to you, above all the rest. At the end of the first half, with the Cardinals set to score, James Harrison, a Pittsburgh Linebacker, intercepted the football and ran from the Cardinal’s end zone to his own. 100 yards of improbability played out for the whole country to see.

James is a professional athlete, in constant training! But, his training focuses on being a linebacker. He doesn’t train for speed or distance; he trains for defense and hard blocking! No one would have a second thought if he intercepted it and only made it twenty yards. He still would have accolades and the appreciation of many fans. The terrible towels would still wave. But James made a decision to go as far as his legs would take him. He pushed the limits of his lung capacity (as seen after the fact as he lay gasping in the end zone), and accomplished the truly amazing! Not only did he do far beyond what was expected of him, he won the distinction of the longest play in Super Bowl history.

The odds are, if you are reading this, you are not in vocational ministry. You aren’t a full time pastor. Often you’re just trying to make it through the week. John Wesley had a vision for the people called Methodists, that every member would be a faithful minister to and for God. From bankers to miners to cashiers to mechanics – that we all would count ourselves as a minister. Wesley wasn’t the first to have that thought. Jesus took fishermen and tax collectors and made them into ministers. It may seem as impossible as a linebacker pretending he’s a running back, but stranger things have happened.

Homework this week: Pray that God would show you, at least once a day, in what ways you can minister His love to those around you.

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