7 Days of Meditation and Declarations for Every Son of Godಮಾದರಿ

Bear Bryant Wisdom

Across twenty-five seasons—from 1958 to 1982—Coach Bear Bryant led Alabama’s Crimson Tide football teams to six national championships and thirteen SEC titles. Back in the ’70s, just prior to one of the team’s many major bowl appearances with national championship implications, the coach was asked by a reporter if he planned to change his team’s playing style in any way.

The Arkansas native responded by shaking his head and saying, “I was taught that ya ought to dance with the one that brung ya.” In case you need a translation from the original vernacular, the reference is to a girl who accepts an invitation to a dance from a gentleman, but after she arrives with him, proceeds to dance with other guys at the ball. In other words, it’s both wise and prudent to stick with the methods and modes that got you where you are.

Paul seems to have had this principle in mind when he told the believers in Colossae, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him” (Colossians 2:6 NIV). And how did we receive Jesus? “By grace…through faith,” as Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:8–9 (NIV). Paul practically shouted this same principle in his letter to the believers in Galatia. With more than a bit of exasperation in his tone, he wrote the words of today’s key verse. Paraphrasing Paul in modern terms:

Look, guys, you received this whole new journey in God through the work of grace by the Holy Spirit. Do you now seriously think that you’re going to get the rest of the way through your own efforts? It began as a free gift. But now you’re going to earn and merit and obey your way to the finish line? Really? (Had it been available, Paul might have used the facepalm emoji here.)

Paul’s warnings about these things in his writings are both frequent and forceful precisely because the temptation for believers to dance with “Works” and “Performance” is so very powerful. Potential partners named “Earn,” “Merit,” and “Deserve” flatter our pride and our craving for self-sufficiency.

Humbly accepting God’s free gifts of grace and mercy got you where you are in God. Simply saying “yes” to His invitation miraculously transferred you from the domain of darkness to a kingdom of light and life. Now you’re at the national championship game of eternity. Dance with the One who brought you.

Grace Declaration: Father, thank You for bringing me to this point by grace. Now that I’m here, I will not “dance” with “earn,” “merit,” or “deserve.” With humility and gratitude, I will dance with the One that brought me. As the hymn goes, “ ’tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home” to victory.