CHARGER NATION: GAME #13
Charger Nation,
It goes
without saying that tonight’s game is a big football game. Our boys are playing for the right to go to
the state championship game. So is the
other team, they are ready too! For the
past five years we have been in semifinal games and every single one of them
have been battles. Whether we have won
the games or lost the games, every single game has been decided in the fourth
quarter. The two we lost we have lost in
the final minute of the game. The three
we have won have been holding on in the fourth quarter. I’ve been telling our boys all week they are
going to have to fight all game.
Tattnall is
a team that has 16 seniors and they are very good at the skill positions. We are a team that has great team speed and
usually teams do not match up well with our speed. Tattnall is very similar to us. You will not be awed by their size during pre
game warm ups. It’s their speed that
makes them good. They match up well verse
us. We match up well verse them. It should be a great game tonight!
“I
PRESS ON toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus.” Phillippians 3:14
I talk about five different words
that I believe are essential to a young man’s growth as a football player or
any endeavor in which the commit themselves: Commitment, Consistency,
Intensity, Execution, and Perseverance.
With the football team this week I have been discussing and coaching perseverance. The boys have been practicing football since
August 1st. They are tired
and worn out. Every team that is still
playing is facing the same mental challenges of being tired and worn out. Don’t get me wrong. They want to play on Friday night. But they have no desire to keep getting up
for film and practicing. The negatives
ideas and thoughts to practice start to creep in. They don’t say it but I can feel them saying
this: “Coach I don’t want to practice anymore, I’m tired.” I get it.
I understand. Young man: “Persevere
to the End! Finish! PRESS ON!”
The bible
tells us faith is the assurance of things hope for and the conviction of things
not seen (Hebrews 11:1). How can a young
man persevere and finish? He must have
faith that his hard work and diligence will pay off. He must have a prize he is after and that
motivates him. If there is not a reward
or prize at the end that is motivating us, then it is hard to press on. However, there is no guarantee that his hard
work will get him what he desires. But
the young man must have faith that his hard work will pay off and this faith
will fuel him to continue on the journey and finish. You see, victory is not guaranteed tonight
nor is a state championship. I can’t
promise those things. But what I can
promise is hard work, perfect effort, and making no excuses will put us in a
great position to Win. I have faith in
our preparation. I have faith in our
process. Young man: “Persevere and
Finish. Have faith that your commitment
to working hard and perfecting the details everyday at practice will prepare
you Friday night. Do not grow weary. Do not let your faith dissipate. Press on.”
The boys I
look at in the eyes everyday have won 20 games in a row. I have never once during any of this time
looked them in the eyes and been able to guarantee them a victory if they do
all the things we ask. All I have been
able to say is if you do these things it will cause you to be much more likely
to win on Friday night. I have faith in
our hard work and preparation, but it does not guarantee a victory on Friday
night. Nothing in this life is
guaranteed. We must have faith and hope
in rewards, but none of them are guaranteed.
Winning
tonight is not guaranteed. Success is
not guaranteed. Good health is not
guaranteed. Waking up tomorrow alive is
not guaranteed. Georgia winning the SEC
next year is not guaranteed. Alabama
winning it this year is not guaranteed (even those this seems real close to a
guarantee). My wife loving me tomorrow
is not guaranteed (there are lots of reasons for her to grow weary with me). We put our faith in those things. We put our trust in those things.
Praise be
to God. The Faith and Hope we put in
Christ is guaranteed. Jesus wasn’t
telling us to put our hope and trust into the false hopes and promises of this
world. He was telling us to put our
faith and trust in the eternal God who came down to die on the cross for our
sins that we may have eternal life.
Jesus Christ came down and delivered us from death. He flipped the guarantee. Death was a guarantee and now life is a guarantee. Christ isn’t asking us to put our faith in
something that may or may not happen. He
is commanding us to put our faith in something that has already been done. Where we could not defeat and overcome sin,
Christ came and won and overcame sin for us.
The words
PRESS ON mean so much more in Christ.
Christ has a purpose for each of us here on earth and we must be
diligent in our pursuit of Christ. I
don’t even really know what his exact purpose for me is other than to pursue
him and be a light for him wherever I am.
Therefore, I set my eyes on the eternal life that is guaranteed to me
with Christ in Heaven. I set my eyes on
this prize and this reward and it allows me to fight, persevere, and finish. I PRESS ON in my pursuit of living a life for
the glory of Jesus Christ.
“Fight the good fight
of the faith. Take hold of the eternal
life to which you were called.” 1
Timothy 6:12
I’m ready for this game tonight! Our boys are ready! Let’s go get this done!
“The horse is made
ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.”
Proverbs
21:31
BEAT Tattnall!
Wholly for Christ,
Coach Gess
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