I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire. (Luke 24:32)
My daughter was working the front counter at the Swan & Dolphin Resort at Disney World when a large family approached.
An older woman stepped forward and simply said, “Shulas.”
My daughter quickly intuited that they were coming for dinner at Shula’s Steak House which was right around the corner inside the resort. So she pointed where to go, and off the woman went, the family trailing behind her, including an older man in a wheel chair.
A few minutes later my daughter saw the family coming back. The older woman stepped forward again and said, “No, we ARE the Shulas. We’re checking in to the resort.”
My daughter hadn’t recognized Florida royalty, the Don Shula family! She was talking to Don Shula’s wife, and the Hall of Fame football coach himself was there in the wheelchair.
I said he was Florida royalty, but every day people are born who have never heard of Don Shula. He was one of the best coaches in NFL history, and the only coach so far to lead his team to an undefeated season, which he did with the Miami Dolphins in 1972.
The other day I was looking at a photo of one of their games. It was a photo of the Miami Orange Bowl taken high above the stadium. The people were just specks.
I thought, “There’s Don Shula, one of the specks.” Then I thought of Larry Csonka. He was a big, bruising running back and one of the stars for the Dolphins. He was a little bigger and a little stronger and that’s why he was a star.
But looking at the whole scene from just a few hundred feet above the stadium, it made no difference if one person was a little bigger or a little stronger. They were all just specks in the mass of humanity.
In the end we are all just specks in the mass of humanity. What difference in the world does it make if one man is a little bigger or a little stronger? One person is considered better looking by mere millimeters of flesh being in this place rather than that place.
We put our values, and even build our lives on these millimeters that in the long run don’t matter.
Second Corinthians 4:18 says that, as Christians, we should spend our time looking at things “which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
One translation says, “For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
The Miami Orange Bowl is gone. It was demolished in 2008.
Most of the adults that were cheering on the Dolphins in 1972 are gone.
Don Shula is gone.
Even that Shula’s Steakhouse inside the resort is gone.
First John 2:17 says this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But whoever does the will of God will live forever.
Lord, please help me do Your will; not my will, but Your will.
Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
Lord, help me do this, set my mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Jesus said in Luke 16:15, “For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
Lord, please, I want to highly esteem what You highly esteem.
How can we get our values straightened out? We need to turn toward God and diligently seek Him. We need to get know His ways and His words.
We need to spend time with God, like it says in Matthew 6:6, getting alone, shutting out distractions, and talking to our Father.
One man said, “I worked so hard climbing the ladder of life, only to realize it was leaning against the wrong building.”
Heavenly Father, please help me follow You closely. I want my values to be Your values. I want to focus on the main eternal things, and I don’t want to waste time on things that You do not highly esteem. I am open to Your paradigm shift, and I am trusting You to lead me every step of the way.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
May God bless you today.
I’m Doug Apple.
