Topic(s): Priorities

Before Frank Gifford retired from ABC’s Monday Night Football this year, he had a perfect attendance record. In an interview broadcast on TNN, hostess Phyllis George asked Gifford how long he had worked as an announcer on ABC’s popular “Monday Night Football” telecast. He answered, “Twenty-six years.” She then asked if he had ever, during the entire 26 years, missed one of the weekly games. His answer was, “No, never missed a game.”

What a record! On television. Every week. Every Monday night. Live! I wonder about Frank Gifford. Did Frank never have company to drop by on Monday night? Did Frank never feel bad? Did Frank never feel tired and want to just take a night off? Did Frank never get upset with co-workers? Did Frank know there are some hypocrites connected with football?

It is apparent that Mr. Gifford is grateful for the attendance/work record he has set; he is undoubtedly thankful for his health which enabled him to work every Monday night and never miss a game for 26 years.

Surely, there is a lesson for Christians in the example of Mr. Frank Gifford—a lesson that calls for setting priorities, like “God first.” True, Gifford receives pay for his “attendance;” but the pay for Christians is even greater—in this life and in the life to come. And, of course, the greatest pay is truly “out of this world!”

Jesus commanded, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…” (Matthew 6:33). The Scriptures also command, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). Church members are needed who are, at least, as committed to the Lord and Sunday Worship Services as Frank Gifford has been to football and the Monday Night telecasts.

How Rich Are We?

Topic(s): Blessings

Americans have difficulty realizing how rich we really are. Robert Heilbroner suggests the following exercise. In reading this, you will have some sense of what daily life is like for as many as a billion people around the world:

• Take out all the furniture in your home except for one table and a couple of chairs. Use blankets and pads for beds.
• Take away all of your clothing except for your oldest dress or suit, shirt or blouse. Leave only one pair of shoes.
• Empty the pantry and refrigerator except for a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt, a few potatoes, some onions, and a dish of dried beans.
• Dismantle the bathrooms, shut off the running water, and remove all the electrical wiring in your house.
• Take away the house itself and move the family into the tool shed.
  Place your “house” in shanty town.
• Cancel all subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and book clubs. This is no great loss because none of you can read anyway.
• Leave only one radio for the whole shanty town.
• Throw away your bankbooks, stock certificates, pension plans, and insurance policies. Leave the family a cash hoard of ten dollars.
• Move the nearest hospital or clinic ten miles away and put a midwife in charge instead of a doctor.
• Give the head of the family a few acres to cultivate on which he can raise a few hundred dollars of cash crops, of which one third will go to the landlord and one tenth to the money lenders.
• Take off twenty-five or more years of life expectancy.

How rich are we? With our wealth comes responsibility to use it wisely (1 Corinthians 4:2), not to be wasteful (Luke 15), and to help others (Ephesians 4:28).

He Thought Nothing of the Money

Topic(s): Blessings, Priorities

• He paid $90,000 for a house to occupy a few years. He thought nothing of money.
• He paid $20,000 for a car. He thought nothing of money.
• He paid $7,000 for a pleasure boat. He thought nothing of money.
• He paid $3,000 for country club membership. He thought nothing of money.
• He paid $2,000 for a vacation of two weeks. He thought nothing of money.
• He spent $500 on a hunting and fishing trip. He thought nothing of money.
• He spent $1,500 for Christmas gifts. He thought nothing of money.
• He gave $10 a week he gave every Lord’s day! Did he think nothing of money?

The New Testament is a book on giving. There are more passages dealing with a proper attitude toward stewardship, material goods, and giving, than all other obligations of the Christian life. Repeatedly in the New Testament giving is called a “grace” (2 Corinthians 8:4,7,9.) When we know that giving is a grace, a Christian virtue, without which no man can be saved, the Lord’s people will give enough to preach the Gospel to the lost and to build up of the saved. — V.P. Black