172
Million watching - 14 million calling in sick
Philadelphia
vs New England – cheesesteaks vs chowdah. No super bowl championships vs five. The backup
quarterback vs one of the all-time greats.
Nick
Foles is a great story. A good man. He revealed this week, that after football,
he wants to be a youth Pastor. During the off season, he has been taking
classes at seminary “I want to continue to learn and challenge my faith.”
For
a time, he thought he was going to retire from football, but
“I
kept reading scripture, I kept praying, I kept asking God — and so many of us
ask God for signs, we ask God, ‘Hey, please just put it on the wall, like, I
want to know,’ but that’s not how it works,” Foles said. “God’s not always
going to do that. He was shaping me. He was bringing me down to my knees … At
that moment, through that prayer, He said, ‘Hey, just take a step of faith.’
And
then, there is Tom Brady, in many ways, an average player who made himself a
great player, one of the best ever.
“What are you willing to do, and what are
you willing to give up, to be the best you can be?” Brady asks. “You only have
so much energy, and the clock’s ticking on all of us. And when you say yes to
something, that means you got to say no to something else. In the end, my life
focused around football. It always has been and always will be, as long as I’m
playing. I’ve given my body, my everything, every bit of energy for eighteen
years to it. So, if you’re going to compete against me, you better be willing to
give up your life. Because I’m giving up mine.”
I’m sure a lot of professional athletes share this mentality. But
what makes Tom Brady different is that he’s allowed this interior drive to
transform every aspect of his life – diet, exercise, everything.
For
him, mediocrity
is a waste of time. He’s not content just to win more than he loses. He doesn’t
want to be in the middle of the pack. He wants to be the best of the best, and
he sacrifices every shred of his being to reach that goal. At 40, he knows the
clock is ticking, but rather than coast into an already high place in football
history, he doubles and triples his efforts to get even higher.
Sounds
like St. Paul – I am obliged to preach the Gospel – a slave to all so as to win
over as many possible! Everything he
can!
Here’s the thing – willing to do it for a
super bowl trophy – what about eternal life? What about the state and destiny
of our souls?
In 10 days Lent - With Lent coming why not
more – more than just giving up chocolate or saying an extra prayer or 2 - make it truly a time for spiritual growth!
