Next Man Up

Yes, there is so much we can learn from sports. For instance, NFL does stand for National Football League, but some players say it stands for Not For Long since it is so hard to stay in the League beyond four years due to competition and injury. Football is to many the ultimate team sport. A really good team will live up to the saying that there is no "I" in "T-E-A-M." So, it is very important that each player is in shape and ready when his number is called. In the course of a game guys get hurt. It's a fact of the game. So, even the guy that rarely plays has to be ready in the event the first or second-string guys in his position are injured. The team is counting on him coming in and playing like he is the starter. For the team to win, the "next man up" has to be ready to go. The skill level can't expose him as a weak-link. The other team is licking their chops ready to take advantage of the "next man up." So, this guy has to prepare as if he is the starter every game, just in case. The team depends on the next man up. The coaches have to coach him up, so that he is ready.---I am so glad as many pastors are, for those guys that have decided to be the spiritual leaders in their families and in their church. Our guys are under attack constantly, because we live in this fallen world. Within the seasons of life, men fall. It's in those times that we need the next man up to step his game up. It's in those times that we need to be there for each other. We need to be there for that guy that fell. We're on the same team. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."-Prov.27:17 Stand firm O' man of God, and be ready when it's your turn.