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This past week, while on
vacation, I had the opportunity to go with my friend
Eric to a Junior Varsity football game. Eric’s son,
Charlie is on the team as a freshman in high school.
Charlie is a special needs young man and being on this
team is a dream come true for him and his parents. I
don’t guess I have ever watched a game with quite the
same hope as I watched that game. I was thinking back to
August and the beginning of football practice when
Charlie’s dad told me how Charlie answered a question
that the coach had asked all the kids. The question to
each player was, “Why do you want to play football?”
Charlie answered, “I want to play for those who can’t.”
Wow! That night I wasn’t so much hoping for a win for
the home team. I didn’t have a child on the field that I
wanted to do well. I was watching one young man on the
sideline and hoping and praying for his dream to come
true. In the second half, Charlie gets into the game and
plays for several plays. When he comes off the field he
is getting congratulated with high-fives from his
coaches and teammates. What a wonderful thing for me to
watch a dream come true but for Charlie’s coaches and
teammates, God Bless You for making dreams come true.
“I want to play for those who can’t.” These words
sounded so familiar to me and then I realized that I
have been reading them, studying them, and preaching
them for years. Doing for someone who can’t do for
themselves is the greatest gift we possess. We give that
gift by feeding those who can’t feed themselves, by
loving those who see nothing loveable in themselves, by
picking up those who have fallen and have no strength.
Charlie’s teammates and coaches have given him
acceptance, belonging and encouragement. Their giving
enables Charlie to give the gift of hope for any of us
who have obstacles to fulfilling a dream. It is what God
did for us in Jesus Christ. He saw that we are incapable
of reconciling ourselves to Him alone so by sending His
Son, He has done for us what we could not do for
ourselves. Paul says it this way, “. . . Jesus Christ
rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering
himself as a sacrifice for our sins.” (Galatians 1:3;
The Message) Christ has done for us what we couldn’t do
for ourselves. It is our calling to find those in our
lives that can’t do for themselves and give them the
hope that we have found in what Christ has done for us.
Christ is calling us to “Play For Those Who Can’t.” Will
you? Love, Fred |
