It's Official!

It’s official - Peyton Manning has retired from the NFL after a legendary 18-year career! As one of my all-time favorite athletes, I am going to miss watching him play. Manning has demonstrated many different admirable attributes throughout his career as a football player, and much can be learned from his example as a teammate too. One attribute worth focusing on is his ability to prepare. He was always known for studying game film and being ready for every team that he played against. Broncos’ head coach Gary Kubiak said, "It was a blessing to coach Peyton Manning. Nobody worked harder at the game and nobody prepared harder...his preparation was the best I have ever seen." Manning clearly saw the value in preparation, and referred to it during his retirement speech yesterday when he said this: "There were other players who were more talented, but there was no one who could out-prepare me." I’m extremely impressed with this mentality and think we should be challenged to acknowledge the importance of preparation in our own lives. After all, there is value in preparing for college…for marriage…for having kids…for buying a home…and for going on an interview. When we overlook the significance of preparedness, we miss out on the advantage of being set up to succeed in many areas of life. No matter what we have planned for the day, our preparation should begin with God’s Word to guide us through everything we face. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT) says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.” Peyton Manning went into every game studied up and well prepared to handle whatever was thrown his way. As we begin each day, let’s be challenged to have a mindset that longs to study and prepare for the joys and struggles of life…soaking in as much of God’s Word as we can. Let’s be prepared for all that He has in store for us and also be ready for the opposition that will always be there too. I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that! PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Your Word and for revealing what we need to know about You, and how to live on this side of eternity. Help me to dig even deeper into scripture, so I can be better prepared for the ups and downs of life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.