Mount Paran Baseball Devotion
Spring 2009 – Week 6
SHETLAND – MUSTANG AGE
Reliability
Game Plan
That players will understand the benefits of being reliable.
Pre-Game Warm-up:
Ask your players, "What does it mean to be reliable?"
Give your players the dictionary's definition:
Dependable, faithful, trustworthy, giving similar results time after time.
Play Ball:
“A reliable person will sometimes do what they don't want to do just because they made a commitment.”
Time Out
Ask your players what the above saying means.
Home Run:
The saying is telling us that in order to be considered reliable or dependable, we need to keep our commitments. We all make commitments. We have commitments to the Lord, our families, our teachers, our friends, and even to our baseball teams. When we make a commitment, we are promising to do our best all of the time.
Fielder's Choice:
Being reliable is a choice. As a baseball player, your team is counting on you to do your best at every practice and at every game. Sometimes you may not feel like giving a 100% effort on the field. You may have had a bad day at school or not had enough sleep. You may even want to skip practice. A reliable person will overcome their feelings and give their team everything they've got. Coaches love players who are reliable because they can always depend on them, and they typically are given bigger responsibilities on the field. Being reliable will help you succeed and be respected by your parents, your friends, your teachers, and one day your bosses.
The Coaches Manual:
“It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy (reliable)”. I Corinthians 4:2.
A steward is someone who has been given a responsibility to take care of something else. We are all stewards of the gifts and talents that God has given us. He wants us to be reliable and use them for His Glory. Always strive to give 100% and be dependable in all that you do.
The Final Score:
Pray with your team and ask the Lord to help them to always do their best, even when they don't feel like it. Challenge them to be reliable and dependable in all that they do this week.
BRONCO, PONY, COLT
Our Thoughts
Verse: Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things."
This season all of us will get a chance to hit at the plate. Some pitches will be balls, but others strikes. If we swing at the good pitches and make good contact, over time things should go well. If we swing at bad pitches, it will be a long season. Well, in life, if we focus on good thoughts, it will make our journey much simpler. But, if we dwell on bad thoughts, those bad thoughts will trip us up and make it much harder to get on the right bases in life (see in your Bible where Peter talks about 'girding up the loins of your mind.') In the batter’s box we have the choice to swing at whatever pitch comes our way. In life, we have also have the choice with our thoughts each day. Which thoughts will you choose today, this week, this year, or for the rest of your life? Will you be swinging at balls (bad thoughts) or strike (good thoughts)? It's your choice.