It is high school football season! The most wonderful time of the year! I do love watching our kids compete. From little bitties to middle school to high school, there is just something so great about watching those kids compete. They are so excited to put on those uniforms. As they begin to be Cubs, or Broncos, or Wildcats, or whatever, there is a sense of pride you can see on their faces as they represent their school. I love it!

The excitement on the faces of the players, is matched by the excitement of the coaches. Coaches work hard to develop a game plan. They work hard to make sure their players are prepared. They work to teach and train these young men, and women too, to be the best they can be on the field, and off. They love these kids they coach. They love to see their success.

All of this just goes right along with our lives and serving our God. We are in a game, and these days, the opposition is big and tough. He is quick and wily. We have to be ready and we have to have a game plan to face each day. Fortunately for us, our coach is the One and only Jesus Christ. He is the One who is guiding us through this daily game of life.

He has a game plan for us. He had it mapped out before we were ever born. In Psalm 139:16, David writes, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, before any of them came to be.” See? He wrote your pages before you were ever born! He has a game plan for each day of your life, but He needs you to come to practice and to work out and to be ready to go into the game. He needs you trusting in Him and His guidance. Just like a coach on the football field.

We have to be ready, especially these days. We have to be armed for the game. We have to be immersed in the Word of God. We have to be talking to Him and listening for His voice. We have to be gathered together with His people, so we can learn from them and they learn from us. These are all the things that get us ready to go into the game. And we have to follow His plan in the game. Coaches have a game plan going in. For that plan to work, the players have to do what they are told to do. They have to execute on every play. In order for the execution to be there, they have to have been in practice to know what to expect.

We have to be prepared to play on both sides of the ball. We have to have a good offense and a good defense. We have to know what He wants us to do, but we also have to have a good understanding of what He doesn’t want us to do. The world today has plenty of “armchair quarterbacks” telling us a different play will work better. Trying to get us to follow their coaching, rather than our Coach. We have to have a good defense to resist that temptation.

So, as you sit in the stands on Friday nights, think about the game in which you are playing. The game of life. Are you listening to the Coach and trying to execute according to His plan?

Just like on the football field, knowing the Coach and knowing what He expects will make the difference!

By: Gina Caswell Kelly