God's Coaching #154

God's Coaching #154

Call him “Mr. Versatility.” Ashrita Furman, a resident of Queens, New York, has jumped on a pogo stick underwater in the Amazon River for three hours and 40 minutes, balanced a pool cue on his index finger for seven miles in Egypt, and bounced on a kangaroo ball for a mile on the Great Wall of China. You might call him eccentric, goofy, or even crazy. But Guinness World Records calls him its greatest record holder.

Ashrita, who was born in 1954, has set more than 300 official Guinness records since 1979. During the fall of 2010, he held 123 world records at the same time—which was another record! Obviously Ashrita’s achievements weren’t normal athletic feats like the fastest 100-meter dash, most touchdowns in a season, or highest career batting average. His records were a bit more, uh, unique, like most Jell-O eaten with chopsticks in a minute (16.04 ounces), the fastest mile traveled while balancing a milk bottle on your head (13 minutes, 51 seconds), and most apples sliced in midair with a samurai sword in one minute (27).

Hey, everybody needs a hobby, right? Ashrita’s off-the-wall endeavors have been featured by Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, and HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

“You get to a point where you’re doing stuff you never dreamed you could do,” Ashrita told Bryant in October 2009.

What’s the Score?

While you probably have never set world records like Ashrita has for racing a yak while hopping in a sack or duct-taping yourself to a wall faster than any other human being, you certainly enjoy various activities. Maybe you love playing sports or listening to music or reading. Maybe you love to draw, play video games, or collect things.

In creating the world, God filled it with countless things for us to enjoy. We all have different interests, hobbies, and skills. But whatever we do—no matter how normal or bizarre—we should do it for God’s glory. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that we should glorify God even when we eat. God created us to bring praise and glory to his name. So no matter where you are or what you’re doing, remember to glorify him . . . even if you love seeing how many grapes you can catch in your mouth in a minute (Ashrita caught 80).

On the Ball

Make two columns on a sheet of paper. On the left, list your favorite things to do. On the right, list how you can glorify God when doing them.

Coach’s Comment

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31