Big Plays

I’m going to make another sports analogy.  Yes, I know I did that a couple of weeks ago, but what can I say?  I’m a sports fan and these things come to me.  I hope it’ll make some sense even if you’re not a sports fan, though.

When you’re watching a game, especially if it’s a close game, there’s often one play that the announcers will point to and say, “That was the key play of the game.”  In other words, that was where the tide turned.  In football, it might be a big touchdown run near the end of the game.  In baseball, it might be a home run.  In basketball, maybe it was someone making a big three-point shot.  Whatever, it’s the one play that, in the announcers’ view, was the one that decided who was going to win and who was going to lose.

But here’s the thing.  That one play may, indeed, have been a big play.  But the chances are that there were a whole lot of little plays before it that set up the big play.  And the chances are that there are a whole lot of little plays after it that kept it the big play.  In football, maybe somebody made an important tackle or picked up a key first down.  In baseball, maybe someone made a great defensive play or drew a walk at the right time.  In basketball, maybe someone got an important rebound or blocked a shot.  In other words, that one big play, no matter how important it is, was only that important because of all the little plays around it.

So what does that have to do with our faith?  Well, look at it this way.  A lot of times, people can point to one big moment that really is important to their faith.  And that’s fine.  In fact, it’s really cool when that happens.  But the chances are there were a lot of little moments around that big moment that made the big moment possible.  Maybe it was a parent or Sunday school teacher that planted a seed when you were young.  Maybe it was a friend who never preached at you or anything, but just inspired you by the way they lived their life.  Maybe you even had a pastor who was important to you.  But the chances are that the one big moment you had, even though it truly was very important, was only that important because of all the little moments around it.

Here’s another way to look at it.  The great football coach, Vince Lombardi, used to say that, while it might be true that one big play can decide a game, you rarely know in advance which play it’s going to be.  That means you have to be ready to do your best on every play.  That’s true of our faith, too.  We rarely know in advance when something might happen that changes our lives.  We also rarely know in advance when we might have the chance to change someone else’s life.  So we need to keep our eyes open and be ready to serve the Lord at all times.

Besides, to God, there are no big moments and no small moments.  All the moments of our lives are important.  There is something God wants us to do with every moment that we’re on the earth.  So again, we need to keep our eyes open and be ready to serve the Lord at all times.

So this week, let’s keep our eyes open.  Maybe we’ll have a chance to make a big play for God.  Or, maybe we’ll just make a little play that will make a big play possible somewhere down the road.  Whatever it is, let’s be ready to do it.  Let’s be ready to serve the Lord at all times.