Daily Devotional

I love, love, LOVE coaching. I got my first coaching opportunity back in 2010 coaching a six-year-old and under soccer team; the Hungry Sharks. It started as a selfish way to get more volunteer hours on my resume for a promotion board I was going on while I was in the Marine Corps (...and I did get the promotion). However, I had so much fun that I decided to coach the next season, and the next, and the next. And now today, I find myself going into my 13th season as a high school coach, and the one thing that hasn't changed much, in all my years of coaching, is that most players are not big fans of practice. 
 
It's during practice, that athletes attempt to apply the things they have been taught. It's during practice, that they must condition and exercise to prepare for the challenge of the competition. And it's during practice, that they learn to fail, get corrected, and try again, with the goal of becoming the athlete they are not yet, but dream to one day be. Of course, most athletes enjoy the results of practice, (i.e. winning the game) but the idea of practice and a heartfelt desire to practice is not an innate passion for most of the players I've trained. 
 
Now, we have had the Bible for as long as we've been alive and today it's more accessible than ever. We know it as the answer to heartache, guilt, pride, and every other kind of struggle we might face. It's the oldest, most influential, most life-altering, best-selling book of all time. It is the Word of God. The Creator of everything has made His words, His promises, and his offered inheritance of eternal life known to us, all through His Word. And now, that we've taken the class, and we've received the assignments, what do we do about it? It's time to put that which we have learned into action.
 
We who have the gift of salvation, are called to go and put into practice what we've learned. To abide in Him. To love how He loved. To make disciples. To pray to our Father in heaven. To obey the word. To change the world! It may be hard. We may make mistakes. We may get fatigued. All of those are a part of the process. It's not natural to remember and act in a way that glorifies Christ in every circumstance, but just like anything else, the more we practice the better we get. May we be intentional about choosing to follow Christ with our actions today. Though we may fall short, I pray that we’ll show up again tomorrow, ready for practice. 

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.