“He was arguably the greatest basketball coach of all
time, whether at the college or professional level. He broke all kinds of records. He led the UCLA Bruins to ten national titles
in twelve years, including seven consecutive championships. His players at one point won 88 games in a
row, and he was chosen as the national coach of the year six times.” Cory Collins wrote this summary about famed
UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden.
Collins states that Wooden’s “personal principles
empowered him to have the great influence he exerted, both on and off the
court.”
What made the difference in his life was an item that he
kept in his wallet.
It was a piece of paper that Wooden's father gave him
when he was only twelve. Tattered and worn, it was his constant companion and
source of guiding principles. Here’s how it read:
Be true to yourself.
Make each day your masterpiece.
Help others.
Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
Make friendship a fine art.
Build shelter against a rainy day.
Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings
every day
Collins considers one of the greatest people who have
ever lived and inquires: “If the Apostle Paul had owned a wallet, what would he
have kept in it? What were his guiding
principles, his compass points, his fundamental beliefs?”
Philippians 3:8-14, Collins suggests, is a passage of
Scripture that could reflect the Apostle’s guiding principles:
“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of
the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the
Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes
from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already
become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I
was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one
thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies
ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in
Christ Jesus.”
To gain Christ and be found in Him, declared righteous
through faith in Christ, looking forward to the resurrection that Christ
guaranteed by His own, and pressing on toward the goal of eternal life through
Christ – these are the greatest and eternal values upon which each of us should
live our lives.
The basis for this hope lay in the fact that Jesus died
on the cross for our sins so that we might have forgiveness and receive the
gift of eternal life (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:23).
God has promised to save and give eternal life to those
who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sin
in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and
are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts
2:38). He will continue to cleanse from
sin those who continue to walk by the “principles” (the Truth) of His Word (1
John 1:7).
What’s in your wallet?
What are your guiding principles?
Won’t YOU follow Jesus and be saved?
* From “What’s In Your Wallet?” by Cory Collins in his
blog “Serving and Sharing: Cory Collins” -- http://coryhcollins.blogspot.com/2016/05/whats-in-your-wallet.html
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