Lessons from the World Cup part 3

World Cup final today, and also our final lessons from the World Cup. Enjoy.
#5- Positions
In football there are four main positions a player can play in – goalkeeper, defence, midfield and striker. And within those four there are all sorts of other breakdowns of various positions that a player can be categorised as: attacking left midfielder, defensive left back, centre forward, defensive midfielder to name but a few. And if a player decides to ignore the position the coach has assigned to him and goes where he wants, the team isn’t going to do well. If no-one in a team feels like being a defender and they all decide to go for the glory of being a striker they are going to concede a lot of goals. Likewise with us. God has different roles for each of us, and we need to get on with fulfilling them, rather than enviously seeing someone else doing a job we like the look of better, and deciding to copy their role rather than doing our own.
Romans 12:4-7 “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.  If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well.  If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly”
#6 – The Prize
“All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:25
Footballers devote their lives to lifting the World Cup Trophy – a glory that will last for just 4 years before some other team wins it. As Christians our reward is eternal life in heaven. I know which I’d rather strive towards! But just like in football, the prize is only for those on the winning team, God’s team. So the challenge is, are you playing for the right team?