April 14, 2008 - Minutes Played

I enjoy taking a browse through the box scores of games – especially if it involves a player I have coached for or against – or just a favorite player. The purpose of a box score is to let the reader know everything from how many points , rebounds, steals, etc to even telling how many minutes the player played.

The past couple years I have been glued to the results of games that included some of my former players. I usually am more concerned with minutes played than even the points scored. I just like to know they were in the game.

In our Christian walks we do not have the luxury of a box score. Many things that we accomplish “on the court” of life we will not even know about until we reach Heaven. In fact much of what we do involves the idea of planting and watering, more than the visible reaping of the harvest. For some reading this you will remember an old Ray Boltz song called Thank You. That song painted the picture of arriving in Heaven and having people come up to you that you had reached in life. What an awesome time that will be. And also what a surprising time I think it will be.

So my concern in ministry is not the typical things one would look for in the box score. Most are concerned with the count of how many people come forward in a service or any of the measurable things. But much like with looking at my former players I am concerned with seeing that we are getting quality playing time.

How does your “minutes played” column look? Are you in the game for God on a regular basis or do you just periodically “step on the floor?”

As I write this devotion I am on a missions trip in Costa Rica, surrounded by some folks that have given their lives to “staying in the game” for God. I have heard challenges to be a missionary, abroad or right there at home. I am with teenagers that need to consider the challenges. Yet it also reinforces the decision we made to go full time with our ministry.

Let me challenge you this week to be a “player”! There should not be “benchwarmers” on God’s team!

Read 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. Note the phrases: “as the Lord has assigned to each one his task"; (vs. 5) and “For we are God’s fellow workers” (vs. 9).