Paraplegic

Paul knows more about football than any person I have ever met so… every Sunday I study under the master. Paul does not watch football he studies it. He knows every play as it starts and knows when it was a busted play. He always knows what they should have done or how they could have won. He even knows what should happen when the unexpected happens and all hell breaks loose. He out thinks the coaches and the players and I hate to admit it but 99% of the time Paul is right. Paul is a millionaire thanks to football. He created and sold a fantasy football league for over a million dollars. That is my friend and football mentor Paul.

Paul’s room is full of football diagrams, playbooks and the pendants of his favorite Pro and College teams. I will not give the names or some of you will argue that if he knew anything he could not pull for that team but would pull for my favorite team.

Paul knows everything about football except how it feels to play football. You see when Paul was young he had an accident and now he is a paraplegic. After the accident the doctors worked with Paul, ran hundreds of tests but can find no “physical” reason why Paul cannot walk. After time passes the muscles atrophy and will not or cannot work anymore.

Paul has a great attitude about it all he spends 8 to 10 hours a day studying football films, on internet chat rooms chatting about football, reading books on football, and calling his friends and talking about… well football.

Paul knows all this "stuff" about football but has never caught a pass. He has never had a football hit his freezing ear while playing in the park with friends. He has never crossed the goal for a touchdown or fumbled at the end of the game and caused his team to lose. His record is perfect he has never lost a game. The problem is he has never won a game either.

There are many Christians just like Paul. Every Sunday they are at church. They study the sermons, they know all the doctrines, they have great theology, they read their Bibles, they talk to their friends about church and pray for the lost but…

They have never been on the field. They don’t have any lost friends because they have no one outside their circles who are not Christians. They use the internet but only on the proper Christian sites. They would never go to “Jamie the Very Worst Missionary” or “Tamara Out Loud” because those “Christian site” sometimes have bad language or ask the wrong questions. They would never go to a bar because of the type of people that hang out in them. A club… please do you know what happens in clubs? Meat market!!!

Christian paraplegics have never gotten into the game. Like Paul if you don’t walk your muscles atrophy and there is no walk. The good thing is if you don’t walk you don’t fall. If you don’t take a chance the bed becomes your home and it is a comfortable bed.

I have heard so many sermons about Peter’s failure when he tried to walk on the water with Jesus BUT took his eyes off the Lord, sank and nearly drowned…

“At least he got out of the damned boat!”