Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers used to begin his training camps each year by holding up a football and saying, "This is a football." Of course, everyone in the room knew what he was holding, they were professional football players after all, but I'm sure they got the point he was making—the same point that the writer of Hebrews is making here—we must master the basics before we can move on to more advanced things. But we should move on to more advanced things.

On December 31, 1967, Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers defeated Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys for the Championship by a score of 21-17 in a game we refer to as the "Ice Bowl" because of the minus 13 degree weather.

This was Lombardi's final year with the Packers and undoubtedly, the game was the crown jewel of his career. With 13 seconds to go in the game, Bart Starr ran a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line to win the game. I don't know what instruction Lombardi gave to Starr before he scored the winning touchdown, but I'm sure that it didn't begin with, "This is a football." There is a time for basics and there is a time for meat.

—http://www.leadnet.org/journey0104.asp, http://www.packers.com/gameday/1967/12-31/ Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Hebrews 5:11-6:3 (NKJV) "of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. [12] For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. [13] For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. [14] But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. [6:1] Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, [2] of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. [3] And this we will do if God permits."

Sources estimate 4.5 trillion cigarette butts find their way into the environment every year. These discards not create an eyesore, they also contain toxic chemicals that can kill fish, and injure wildlife. Researchers in China now report they may have found a constructive use for the unwanted items. Researchers immersed cigarette butts in water and identified nine different chemicals. These chemical extracts were then applied to N80, a type of steel used to make pipes used in the oil industry.

Tests revealed the chemicals, including nicotine, prevent the steel from rusting. Currently, corrosion of the steel piping used in the oil industry costs producers millions of dollars each year. The discovery could save a lot of money as well as protect the environment. The researchers wrote, “The metal surface can be protected and the iron atom’s further dissolution can be prevented.” They added, “Recycling could solve these problems, but finding practical uses for cigarette butts has been difficult.”

China Scientists find use for cigarette butts, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64C10W20100513; May 13, 2010, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

The Lord Jesus has always taken wasted, toxic lives, and turned them into something useful in His kingdom.

2 Corinthians 4:15-18 (GW) “All this is for your sake so that, as God's kindness overflows in the lives of many people, it will produce even more thanksgiving to the glory of God. (16) That is why we are not discouraged. Though outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are renewed day by day. (17) Our suffering is light and temporary and is producing for us an eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine. (18) We don't look for things that can be seen but for things that can't be seen. Things that can be seen are only temporary. But things that can't be seen last forever.”

In his book, A Shared Christian Life, Ben Witherington III wrote, “At the Billy Graham Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, there is a little garden with the tombstone of Ruth Bell Graham. The stone reads: ‘End of Construction—Thank you for your patience.’ To a real extent, we do need to see ourselves as Christians under construction, not persons who are fully formed and always mature in Christ.” –Jim L. Wilson

Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Some of us are always looking for a shortcut to physical fitness. Now there are some possible solutions on the horizon. Scientists are testing compounds that they can put into a pill to produce the same effects as exercise. One proposed pill would give us more endurance and weight control, without the need to run a single step. According to news reports, such a pill may be on the way.

And for those who don’t mind putting in a little more effort, a new study from Finland had discovered that 30 minutes in the sauna may be as beneficial for your heart as moderate exercise. It seems that the extra heat in the sauna that widens blood vessels and improves blood flow causes the positive effects. The sweating has a natural diuretic effect, lowering blood pressure and easing the workload of the heart.

There are no shortcuts to spiritual growth. Paul reminds Timothy that spiritual discipline is even more important that physical exercise. Godliness is the result of practicing spiritual discipline. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/an-exercise-pill-may-be-in-the-future-for-those-incapable-of-working-out/2018/03/02/e8af9370-1bdb-11e8-ae5a-16e60e4605f3_story.html?utm_term=.4995cee4e7c9

For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.