Win One for the Gipper

Read: Mark 14:1-9

And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.                                                                                                             Mark 14:6 

     In any poll on college football, George Gipp easily ranks in the top twenty-five college football players of all time. He was one of the most versatile players to ever play the game, let alone where he played at Notre Dame. Having never played organized football before he came to college, he was recruited from the baseball team by the legendary coach Knute Rockne, who helped Gipp solidify his name amongst the college football greats. But perhaps what he did at the end of his short life is what has made him the most famous. As he lay dying of Strep throat at the young age of twenty-five, his coach stood at his bedside. Ronald Reagan, as a young actor, made famous the lines that George Gipp reportedly uttered to “Rock” at his bedside:  “I’ve got to go, Rock. It’s all right. I’m not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they’ve got and win just one for the Gipper.” They did. Knute Rockne used that story and the words of inspiration from the Gipper to rally his team to beat the undefeated Army team of 1928. They had won one for the Gipper.

     In Mark 14, Jesus rebuked those who criticized Mary for anointing His head with ointment. The ointment that Mary used on Jesus was very costly. What Mary did was for her Lord, and she gave Him the best that she had. She wasn’t concerned with what anyone else thought about her decision to worship Jesus. Like Mary, everything we do ought to be our best, and it ought to be done for Jesus.

     We have a goal much nobler than winning a football game. We have a Lord so much more worthy than the Gipper. Are you doing the best you can at everything you do in order to please your Lord? Many young men are not willing to completely sell out to Jesus Christ because they are afraid that others will think them fanatical. They are worried that their “cool” reputation will be tarnished. It is time to stop being concerned with what others think and just go into the world with all we’ve got and accomplish something for Jesus.

Quote of the day: “If you do something out of duty, it will deplete you; but if you do something out of love, it will energize you.”