Examine the roster of any championship sports team and you will find a number of athletes referred to as "team players." These athletes put their personal goals aside for the good of the team and take on whatever role the coach doles out to them.
We Christians belong to a much greater team, that is, the Body of Christ, with Jesus as the Head (Eph 4:15). "God has set each member of the body in the place He wanted it to be" (1 Cor 12:18). It is critical to play our designated role as best we can, "doing only what the Lord assigned" us (1 Cor 3:5).
Satan, coach of the opposition, knows his best strategy is to get God's players to focus on themselves rather than on Jesus the Head. Accordingly, he attempts to lure God's team members to covet any position other than what God has assigned. Women may wish to be priests; priests may desire to raise children; intercessors may long to be music ministers; Scripture teachers might long to have a healing ministry. However, if we yearn for a different role than God has assigned us, we miss opportunities to serve in our current role. Then we stop playing for the team, and begin playing for ourselves. In a sense, we "clutter up the" team (Lk 13:7) and we pull the team down (see Lk 13:8-9).
In our assigned position, "we have gifts that" are both specially tailored to our unique role (Rm 12:6; see also Eph 4:7) and designed "for the common good" (1 Cor 12:7). Therefore, "each one should lead the life the Lord has assigned him" (1 Cor 7:17).
| PRAYER: | Father, thank You for calling me to belong to You. |
| PROMISE: | "Now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem." –Ps 122:2 |
| PRAISE: | Gary retired from his job so he would be able to attend daily Mass. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College