Yesterday I read an article about the Oscoda High School football team in Oscoda, Michigan.  It seems that the team is not doing very well,  In fact, they are 0-4 to begin the year.  As a result the coach and the school board have decided to cancel the rest of the season.  They have decided to quit.  The players wanted to continue but the coach said that he was afraid the they would be injured.

I am sure that those players are very aware of the risks of playing high school football.  The coach, Kyle Tobin said he was doing it to protect the players, but you have to wonder if he would have done it if they had won some games.  The article I read said that he had done this before several years ago at another school.

This is one of the messages of American culture.  If the going gets tough, quit.  If you don’t like it, if it does not feel good or it takes too much effort, just give up.  This is a lesson that these kids will carry for a long time.  We should not be surprised to see them quit other things later on in life.  The consequences then may be much more serious.

Life is filled with all types of challenges.  We will not always be successful, but as followers of Christ, we need to give our best effort.  If you will take a moment to look around you will see many examples of courage and perseverance.  Not only should we be aware of these examples, we should seek to be that type of example.

Yesterday, we saw clearly in the scripture what the Lord expects of us as a part of the body of Christ.  It is not difficult to see a place where with some effort, you can make a tremendous difference in the life of someone else.