Bible Studies

THE RED ZONE

Bruce McLeland

April 26, 2014

FOOTBALL

There is much action in a football game but the action becomes intense when the teams get into the red zone, the last 20 yards. The defense gets vicious and the offense becomes a unified “new person.” “The ball will not get into the end zone.” “We will get the ball into the end zone."

HOCKEY

The red line is the object in hockey. This line runs all the way across the rink, cutting through the back half of the net. The puck must cross that line in the net to be a goal. Lots of things can happen back there: a goal, delay of game penalties, icing. This is where fierce action takes place. This is where things happen.

BASKETBALL

To pile up the score the players practice and try and make 3-pointers. The defense tries anything they can to prevent the 3 point shot from heading for the net. A three point play can happen when a player shoots and makes a basket and is fowled. It is when the players reach the "Trey" zone, with little time left, that the play becomes intense.

SOCCER

Play really gets intense when players get into the 18 yards of the goal area. There is either a flurry of action defending that goal of 8 yards or there is fury trying to get the ball in the net. The goalie is trying to get be everywhere at once. Outside of this area are careful and artful passes but the ultimate is to get the ball in the goal.

THE RED ZONE OF LIFE

What kind of energy are we going to store up and expend when we reach the Red Zone of life? Many people, when they get older, sort of give up and hang out in the recliner. Some burn themselves out and become discouraged. Others finish strong. I am re-reading the book, Finishing Strong, Going the Distance for your family, by Steve Farrar. I recommend this book to middle aged men but it is also helpful for those of us nearing or in the Red Zone of life. Women would also be helped by these concepts.

Here are some verses from the Bible that I have found helpful. Perhaps you will too.

Joshua 1:6-9

All verses are from the New International Version (NIV)  ⁶ Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. ⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

1 John 4:4

⁴ You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

James 4:10

¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

1 Peter 5:7

⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Matthew 5:4

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.

Psalm 34:4

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
    he delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 46:1

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.

Hebrews 13:5

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money
and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”

Psalm 39

¹ I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked.” ² So I remained utterly silent, not even saying anything good. But my anguish increased; ³ my heart grew hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: ⁴ “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. ⁵ You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. ⁶ “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be. ⁷ “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. ⁸ Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools. ⁹ I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this. ¹⁰ Remove your scourge from me;
    I am overcome by the blow of your hand. ¹¹ When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin, you consume their wealth like a moth surely everyone is but a breath. ¹² “Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were.¹³ Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again before I depart and am no more.”

In this Psalm list the things you find that indicate the brevity of life. “Just a puff of breath” and others.

Psalm 92 A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

¹ It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, ² proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, ³ to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. ⁴ For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. ⁵ How great are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts! ⁶ Senseless people do not know, fools do not understand, ⁷ that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. ⁸ But you, Lord, are forever exalted. ⁹ For surely your enemies, Lord, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. ¹⁰ You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;
    fine oils have been poured on me. ¹¹ My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
    my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.¹² The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;¹³ planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.¹⁴ They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,¹⁵ proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

Psalm 103 Of David.

¹ Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. ² Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. ³ who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, ⁴ who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. ⁶ The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. ⁷ He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: ⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. ⁹ He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; ¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. ¹³ As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; ¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,he remembers that we are dust. ¹⁵ The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. ¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children ¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. ¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. ²⁰ Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. ²¹ Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. ²² Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul. You may have some key verses that fit right in here. Make note of them and send me an e-mail and I will add them to these I have found and had meaning to me. There is a lot more Scriptural help in the book mentioned above. I challenge you to read and study the book. Go through it once and then go back and mark the book with things that really speak to you. Then, pray about those things and pray that God will allow you to be in the minority of men who end up strong. Please join me in prayer that we may finish strong.