When I coached soccer many
years ago, we had a player who was able to perform a very difficult and unusual
throw-in. In soccer, the rule states that on a ball that exits the field to the
side, the other team is awarded a throw-in. During the throw-in, the player
must bring both hands overhead and release the ball with equal strength from
both hands. The player must also have both feet on the ground when they release
the ball. This player that was on our team was able to do a hand-spring (while
holding the ball between his hands), and then to release the ball upon his feet
hitting the ground. The force of his entire body being behind the throw as
opposed to only the strength of his arms, gave the trajectory of the throw much
more power and distance.

As his coach, I didn’t want
him to reveal this throw-in until crucial times in the game. I did not want him
to do it too many times, so we could utilize the element of surprise at crucial
times, or crucial positions on the field. Because of this strategy, every time
he would get near an area he thought we might need the special hand-spring
throw-in, he would look to the sideline for my approval. I recall one game
where the wind was blowing especially hard toward the opposing goal. He was at
mid-field, which normally would not be a place for this throw-in. I yelled
across the field … “It’s time!” He threw the ball with the help of the
wind, and it went all the way to the goalie, who tried to stop it. The ball
glanced off his hands and into the goal for a score!

Sometimes I feel like
looking to Heaven and telling God that I think, “It’s time!” Today I
read in Psalm 119: “It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made
void thy law” (Psalm 119:126). As I look around this world today, I must
agree with the psalmist who wrote this. So many people have made proclamations
that the Word of God has no value or validity. They mock the truths of
Scripture, and in effect, ignore the help that God has offered them in His
Word. We need Christians today who will live out the principles of the Word of
God in their everyday lives.

So, I am not looking to God
to say, “It’s time,” I am looking at you and me to say, “It’s time!”
It is time for us to practice the truths we see in Scripture so others can see
the blessing of a life committed to the Word of God! I feel as though God is on
the sideline, looking across the span of eternity, and saying to us, “It’s
time!” Join me today in a commitment to giving our best effort to live out
these truths wherever we go today. I want to be a man whose life matches Bible
truth!