“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” — Hebrews 2:1
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It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to coach a team in a sport I really loved as a youngster. As I matured through the years, I developed a solid grasp of how to play the game, and started to believe I might make it to be a decent coach. I wanted to help kids develop positive character traits and teach them good sportsmanship, and hopefully the kids would see a coach who was different than their other non-believing coaches. Simply put, I loved coaching and had a desire to be used by God to reflect Him in my coaching.
As the years moved on, the opportunity to coach at a higher level was offered to me. Now the preparation for practices took more time, the older kids had a bit more of an attitude, and parents got more verbal about the lineups, my play calling and playing time. The stress of winning started to change my coaching style and attitude toward some of the players. I noticed I was on edge at home more than normal, reading the Bible daily didn’t happen as often, and I was missing my men’s Bible study group on Thursday mornings because I stayed up too late to break down film of our next opponent. My love for the game was at risk, while the desire to win seemed more important than ever. I started to drift away from why God put coaching on my heart many years ago.
Does any of this sound familiar? Maybe your coaching journey has looked similar. Or if not coaching, your sport, career or ministry passion has gotten off track.
Drifting happens to many organizations and churches, as well as people. The world can start to creep into our lives, we get busy, our attitudes start to change, we lose our focus on Christ, and just like a ship without an anchor, we start to drift away from our starting point.
As the author of Hebrews says, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Hebrews 2:1).
Stop drifting, get back to your first love — Jesus. Get back into the Word of God and remember why Jesus gave you the desire to do what you are doing, whether it be coaching, playing, teaching or leading. You want to be an excellent example of someone who loves Jesus. Now get back on track and go do what God wants you to do.
— Jan Hethcock
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