Football fans can become real fanatics. The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl on a last minute interception. Tom Brady won his third Most Valuable Player award in Super Bowls.
Johnny Nichols is a 21-year-old fanatic fan of the Patriots and Tom Brady. Following the Super Bowl victory he had Tom Brady’s name tattooed on his bottom lip so that the first thing you see is the name Tom Brady. When he was asked why he did that he said, “I always want Tom Brady to be on the tip of my tongue.”
That’s strange. That takes football fanaticism to a different level. But it made me start to think. What do we have on the tip of our tongues? What is the first thing people notice about us? It doesn’t have to be a tattoo – but think about what is on the tip of your tongue. Here are some questions:
1. Do we have fear or faith on the tip of our tongues? In this day and age it is so easy to be fearful. Each day’s headlines produce more global concerns that can create fear.
Someone has suggested that an acronym for F E A R could be Forget Everything And Run. That is really succumbing to fear. Let me suggest that a better acronym of F E A R would be Face Everything And Respond!
The Bible is clear that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7). God sent his Son into the world that we might have faith and not fear. Fear paralyzes – faith liberates.
2. Do we have God or gold on the tip of our tongues? American coins have the inscription “In God We Trust.” Is that really true of us as individuals? I remember speaking to a large patriotic group on the weekend of the Fourth of July and the program was misprinted with the phrase “In gold we trust.” Was that a truthful misprint?
Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God, and then other necessary things will be given to us. The priority is seeking God. Anything else becomes a distraction.
3. Do we have giving or getting on the tip or our tongues? Life is a choice as we live each day. We are created with a sinful nature of being selfish and a desire to look out for ourselves. The joys in life come when God’s grace through Jesus Christ transforms us from being getters to givers.
Jesus made it clear that He did not come into the world to be served but to serve. He made it clear that it is much more blessed to give than to receive. A life of getting becomes shallow and mundane. A life of giving produces riches and joys that cannot be bought.
4. Do we have problems or possibilities on the tip of our tongues? Anything we face in life can be observed as a problem or a possibility. It depends on how we look at it.
One day the disciples came to Jesus because there were 5,000 hungry people to feed. They saw a problem because there was no food. Jesus didn’t see a problem – He saw a possibility. He took 5 loaves and 2 fish and fed the whole crowd.
In life it is easy to see things as problems. It is far more productive to see them as possibilities.
What is on the tip of your tongue?
