By Matt Osborne, Staff Writer
After falling just short to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl last season, the San Francisco 49ers entered the offseason knowing it would take significant effort from the front office to keep their roster mostly intact.
Offensive superstars Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, and Trent Williams wanted to sign contract extensions with the organization during the summer months.
While the 49ers finalized McCaffrey’s deal in early June, Aiyuk and Williams’ contract negotiations dragged on well into training camp.
With both players initially unable to come to terms with the front office, Aiyuk and Williams became holdouts during camp. Aiyuk participated in team meetings and film sessions but would refrain from practicing with the team. Williams, meanwhile, separated himself from the team’s facilities completely.
Within the past week, however, Aiyuk and Williams finally reached agreements with San Francisco’s front office, meaning that both players ended their holdouts just in time for their regular season opener on Monday night.
In the NFL business, it is not uncommon to see star players holding out in hopes of a better contract situation in the future.
As followers of Jesus, we likely will never find ourselves engaged in a contract negotiation at work that requires us to hold out. But that does not mean we cannot ” hold out” in other important areas of life.
Proverbs 3:27-28 (NLT) says, “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them. If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, ‘Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you.’”
We often can serve the people around us, yet we end up “holding out” because of selfishness, laziness, or some other sinful reason.
Whether our finances, possessions, gifts, abilities, or time, every good thing in this life is a gracious gift from God intended to be stewarded well for His glory.
One primary way we bring God glory with the resources He has given us is by selflessly meeting the needs of the people around us. When we see situations where we can intervene, we must ensure we do not “hold out” by failing to act promptly.
James 4:17 (NIV) states, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
Though we often think of sin as something we should not do, the Bible clarifies that we also sin when we don’t do what we should.
Rather than “holding out” when we can serve and bless others, we should be eager and willing to extend the same grace and kindness shown in Christ.
Today, let’s refuse to continue “holding out” in the areas where we know God is calling us to get involved. Let’s thank God for the ability to serve in a way that brings Him glory, and let’s jump in to serve others and meet the needs around us selflessly.
I’m Matt Osborne, and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me resources that I can use to serve others and glorify You. Please forgive me for the times I have sinned and not done the good I should have done. Help me see the needs around me, and give me the strength to respond as I should. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
