God has given us so many gifts. I have mentioned several in my blogs thus far. One that has become more personal to me during my mission is the gift of repentance. We are so imperfect. Every single day it seems, we do something we regret. How come God loves us so much? Because we are His children. That is why. I may not be a parent yet but I can sure say that I have done a lot of stupid things in my life but my parents still love me. He is the same. Even more so, since He is perfect. Repentance truly is a gift:
"Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved." (3 Nephi 9:22)
We can all be saved if we come unto Him asking for forgiveness. We must "confess and forsake" our sins. Confessing means to tell the Lord what we did and ask for forgiveness and also, if necessary, going to a church leader for more serious sins so they can help us repent fully. Forsake simply means to stop doing the sin. If we go back to the same sin, we really have not repented at all. Repenting means to turn back. To start a new life, in line with God's will...
In light of the football season about to start (No I cannot watch it but the clock installed in me senses it is time for football), we must remember that we must seek to change our lives to be more in line with God's. We must kickoff a new life, a life for God and His will. In football, a kickoff starts everything over again. New opportunities arise for your team. No matter what happened, who scored or how they scored, a kickoff starts it over (everything but the score that is). Repentance gives us that opportunity. We can start over. We can become better and improve on our past mistakes. Let us all kickoff a new life, repenting of our shortcomings and mistakes and seek to be better people. People that follow Christ closely. I know that as we repent, and align our lives with the will of our Father in Heaven's, we will see blessings. And those blessings will increase exponentially as we seek every day to get better, to be a little better than yesterday.
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
God Needs a Pinch Hitter, Will You Step Up to the Plate?
If you have spent at least 5 minutes around me, you know I love sports. Especially baseball. I love them because there are so many parallels to life lessons in every sport. It's so easy to turn them into analogies about life. So here is my attempt to make one...
The bases are loaded, in the the bottom of the 9th inning, you are down by 1. You have been sitting on the bench all game waiting for a chance to prove yourself and get in the game. The coach decides to put you in as a "pinch-hitter" which means he will substitute you in the game for whoever was supposed to bat at that time. So you will hit in the place of that person. But the person you are hitting for happened to be the best hitter on the team. The coach just wanted you to have a shot at success. So now it's up to you. You are up to bat, the bases are loaded in the 9th inning. The question is...can you deliver?
God, our Heavenly Father, is our coach. He tells us what we need to do in this life to be successful and return to Him. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is our exemplar. He came to earth and established His church by His authority, the priesthood. This priesthood he also gave to his disciples to act in His name. As He gave them this authority, He told them "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (Matthew 28:19). They were to act in His name as they preached the gospel and establish the church. He chose them to do it. Jesus Christ is the "best hitter on the team." God has restored that priesthood on the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That priesthood is given to every worthy man. This priesthood is the ability to act in the name of Jesus Christ to do such things as perform baptisms, heal the sick, give blessings, and preach the gospel. Since we are acting in the name of Jesus Christ as holders of the priesthood, we are, in a sense, pinch-hitting for Christ as we minister to the sick, guide the Church, baptize, and preach the gospel.
"Many are called, few are chosen" as the scriptures say. We could change that into "many are on the team, few are chosen to play." When we receive the priesthood, we are called into the game. We are the pinch-hitter in that tight spot. Acting in the name of Christ. He needs us to deliver. Will we be ready to step up to the plate? When the "coach" motions in our direction to go into the game, will we come through in the clutch? Or will we strike out? Anyone can play, so long as they are worthy. God has restored His priesthood, His Authority to the earth and given it to men once again. We must honor and cherish that privilege. We must do our duty: minister unto the sick and poor, bless our families, guide and lead the church as well as preach the gospel. That is our call. Let us all be ready to be called on when the game is on the line. Let's drive in that winning run instead of strike out. Let us all magnify our callings in the priesthood. God calls to us: "arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;" (2 Nephi 1:21). God needs a pinch-hitter, will you step up to the plate?
The bases are loaded, in the the bottom of the 9th inning, you are down by 1. You have been sitting on the bench all game waiting for a chance to prove yourself and get in the game. The coach decides to put you in as a "pinch-hitter" which means he will substitute you in the game for whoever was supposed to bat at that time. So you will hit in the place of that person. But the person you are hitting for happened to be the best hitter on the team. The coach just wanted you to have a shot at success. So now it's up to you. You are up to bat, the bases are loaded in the 9th inning. The question is...can you deliver?
God, our Heavenly Father, is our coach. He tells us what we need to do in this life to be successful and return to Him. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is our exemplar. He came to earth and established His church by His authority, the priesthood. This priesthood he also gave to his disciples to act in His name. As He gave them this authority, He told them "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (Matthew 28:19). They were to act in His name as they preached the gospel and establish the church. He chose them to do it. Jesus Christ is the "best hitter on the team." God has restored that priesthood on the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That priesthood is given to every worthy man. This priesthood is the ability to act in the name of Jesus Christ to do such things as perform baptisms, heal the sick, give blessings, and preach the gospel. Since we are acting in the name of Jesus Christ as holders of the priesthood, we are, in a sense, pinch-hitting for Christ as we minister to the sick, guide the Church, baptize, and preach the gospel.
"Many are called, few are chosen" as the scriptures say. We could change that into "many are on the team, few are chosen to play." When we receive the priesthood, we are called into the game. We are the pinch-hitter in that tight spot. Acting in the name of Christ. He needs us to deliver. Will we be ready to step up to the plate? When the "coach" motions in our direction to go into the game, will we come through in the clutch? Or will we strike out? Anyone can play, so long as they are worthy. God has restored His priesthood, His Authority to the earth and given it to men once again. We must honor and cherish that privilege. We must do our duty: minister unto the sick and poor, bless our families, guide and lead the church as well as preach the gospel. That is our call. Let us all be ready to be called on when the game is on the line. Let's drive in that winning run instead of strike out. Let us all magnify our callings in the priesthood. God calls to us: "arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;" (2 Nephi 1:21). God needs a pinch-hitter, will you step up to the plate?
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Christ Runs This Team
I would like to add on to my analogy I mentioned in my previous blog. I love sports, especially football because there are so many truths and lessons learned in sports that apply to everyday life.
So here goes round 2:
Most football stadiums, including all college and professional stadiums, have what is called a "press box." It is a location on the side of the stadium mounted higher than the stands. This is where some of the teams' coaches sit during the games. Usually the offensive coordinator for both teams sit in this press box. They each sit in there with a headset on, enabling them to talk to the head coach on the field and give them advice and tell them what they see. This enables the head coach to then call a play and tell the players what they need to do to be successful during the game. What he tells the players is based on the advice and counsel given from the offensive coordinator sitting "upstairs" in the press box. The coordinator sitting in the press box can see all. He can see how the defense lines up, what the other coaches are doing, how his team is matching up with the opposing team. He relays information to the head coach to benefit the whole team.
We remember from my previous post how the head coach is the prophet, the mouthpiece of God on earth. This is still true in this case. Who is the offensive coordinator? Jesus Christ himself. Why? He can see all. He tells the prophet what is coming, what He sees, what needs to be done to be successful in this life. He runs this church, this team. He is the one sitting "upstairs." Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of our Heavenly Father, guiding us. He doesn't need a headset to relay information, however. How does He relay information to the head coach, AKA our prophet? Modern revelation. He sees what the opposition, Satan, is throwing at us better than we do. With His view, He can tell us through the prophet what we need to do to be successful and overcome Satan. He knows what is ahead, He knows how to win this game, this game of life. All we have to do is heed the guidance given to our head coach, Thomas S. Monson. Because he is getting his guidance directly from "upstairs" in the press box called "heaven."
So here goes round 2:
Most football stadiums, including all college and professional stadiums, have what is called a "press box." It is a location on the side of the stadium mounted higher than the stands. This is where some of the teams' coaches sit during the games. Usually the offensive coordinator for both teams sit in this press box. They each sit in there with a headset on, enabling them to talk to the head coach on the field and give them advice and tell them what they see. This enables the head coach to then call a play and tell the players what they need to do to be successful during the game. What he tells the players is based on the advice and counsel given from the offensive coordinator sitting "upstairs" in the press box. The coordinator sitting in the press box can see all. He can see how the defense lines up, what the other coaches are doing, how his team is matching up with the opposing team. He relays information to the head coach to benefit the whole team.
We remember from my previous post how the head coach is the prophet, the mouthpiece of God on earth. This is still true in this case. Who is the offensive coordinator? Jesus Christ himself. Why? He can see all. He tells the prophet what is coming, what He sees, what needs to be done to be successful in this life. He runs this church, this team. He is the one sitting "upstairs." Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of our Heavenly Father, guiding us. He doesn't need a headset to relay information, however. How does He relay information to the head coach, AKA our prophet? Modern revelation. He sees what the opposition, Satan, is throwing at us better than we do. With His view, He can tell us through the prophet what we need to do to be successful and overcome Satan. He knows what is ahead, He knows how to win this game, this game of life. All we have to do is heed the guidance given to our head coach, Thomas S. Monson. Because he is getting his guidance directly from "upstairs" in the press box called "heaven."
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