Thursday, August 13, 2015

Making Adjustments

 Making Adjustments

“If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9,10

I can never imagine what it would be like to stand in the pocket of an NFL game and grasp all the complicated defensive schemes coming at you.  It’s simply a different planet down there.  Having spent my 5th through 9th grade years playing quarterback in my elementary and junior high years, I got a taste of the wild world of a QB, eventually moving to wide receiver in high school.   The scouting report on me was predictable“Reminds us of Rice…hands like Jerry, speed like Condoleezza.” 

But a “professional” quarterback’s viewpoint is organized chaos with 325 pounders (who love Quarter Pounders), hoping to break your leg into a set of 6-piece Chicken McNuggets.  Along that path, few have reached the level of Peyton Manning.  While yesterday we talked about Russell Wilson’s spiritual journey, today we find the Bronco’s ole’ number 18 has had his own.  With many NFL marks amassed since 1998, this year alone, he set the record for touchdown passes in a season (55), and most passing yards (5,477), along with many team records. From play action to corner routes, nothing happens until the ball is placed in their hands. Perhaps the QB’s greatest tool is audibilizing (or changing the play) or adjusting at the line of scrimmage. It’s those little changes that are the difference between winning and losing.  

Several news sources have cited the man behind the scenes. In his book Manning, co-authored with his father, Peyton tells the story of a spiritual audible.  His own conversion: "My faith has been number one since I was thirteen years old and heard from the pulpit on a Sunday morning in New Orleans a simple question: 'If you died today, are you one hundred percent sure you'd go to heaven?'”
"It was a big church, and I felt very small, but my heart was pounding.  The minister invited those who would like that assurance through Jesus Christ to raise their hands, and I did.  Then he invited us to come forward, to take a stand, and my heart really started pounding and from where we sat, it looked like a mile to the front.  But I got up and did it, and I committed my life to Christ, and that faith has been most important to me ever since."

Peyton says his four priorities, in order, are: faith, family, friends, and football.  He testifies, "My faith doesn't make me perfect, it makes me forgiven."  He describes his spiritual life: "I pray every night, sometimes long prayers about a lot of things and a lot of people, but I don't talk about it or brag about it because that's between God and me, and I'm no better than anyone else in God's sight."
Little did Peyton, as a 13- year old, realize the stage on which he stands this weekend. He knows the experience of an eternal change or audible ones. Dwight Moody noted, “There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do the little things.” As in football, it’s the little things that make the difference whether running into the end zone or into a relationship with Jesus Christ. 
  

Terry Risser

Reflections:
1)   When did you first hear about Jesus Christ?  Have you made that commitment?
2)   What was the biggest difference He brought to you?

Consider Reading the word today:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ex%2030-32,acts%208&version=NIV


Copyright 2015 - Terry Risser 

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