The clock ticks to 0:00 and it is the end of the third quarter of an intense rivalry battle between two college football power houses. Players and fans start holding up four fingers. Why are they doing this you ask? It is the fourth quarter and time to lay everything out on the table. Time for the players to find the last drops of energy to come off victorious.
But how does this relate to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Our lives can be compared to a football game. It can be a hard battle and just when we think we can not take it any longer life puts us right in the middle of the fourth quarter. We have to decide whether to put our all on line or give up. We have to always be prepared! We have to know where to turn when our lives get hectic and we are in our, "fourth quarter". But where do we turn for help? Where are the coaches in our life? Is there a playbook we can follow? That is exactly why the gospel of Jesus Christ is here. There is a playbook and we do have coaches to help us to overcome our own challenges.
First lets talk about the playbook. Why is it so important to have a playbook in football? Without a playbook the team would not be unified in its plays. The lineman wouldn't know who to block, the receivers wouldn't know there routes and the running backs would have no clue which hole they needed to run through. And that's just for offense! There would just be pure chaos on the field. In our lives we have the scriptures as a playbook. The Holy Bible and Book of Mormon are the best playbooks we can turn to when we are going through difficult times. The scriptures testify of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the Book of Mormon Nephi tells us,"feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do" (2 Nephi 32:3). The scriptures are the words of Christ and our guide to show us how we can partake of his Salvation. When we read and study the scriptures we will be able to receive revelation in our lives to know what we should do in our times of trial.
We also need coaches to help us, but who are they and where can we find them? Our coaches are Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. But, how do we access there counsel? From Prophets and apostles, who are there waiting on the sidelines to help us. We can look at it this way. Our head coaches Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are up in the coaches box watching over the whole game. Being way up in the bleachers they have a perfect angle to watch all that is going on. In Football the coaches in the box relay what is happening on the field to the coaches down on the sidelines. Prophets and apostles do not have headphones that they can receive direction from heavenly father and Jesus Christ, BUT they do receive revelation. In Amos we learn,"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). Our coaches on the sidelines (prophets and apostles), will tell us what we need to do in our lives so we can find peace and strength through the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we follow the counsel of these wise men our lives we will grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and be able to conquer any obstacle in our way.
SO when the fourth quarter comes in our lives and the game is on line. Remember to hold up the four! The playbook is easy to access we just have to open the scriptures. And as we listen and follow Heavenly Father's Prophets and Apostles we will over come any challenge life will throw at us. I know when things get hard in our lives we can turn to these strongholds and come off conquer.
First lets talk about the playbook. Why is it so important to have a playbook in football? Without a playbook the team would not be unified in its plays. The lineman wouldn't know who to block, the receivers wouldn't know there routes and the running backs would have no clue which hole they needed to run through. And that's just for offense! There would just be pure chaos on the field. In our lives we have the scriptures as a playbook. The Holy Bible and Book of Mormon are the best playbooks we can turn to when we are going through difficult times. The scriptures testify of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the Book of Mormon Nephi tells us,"feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do" (2 Nephi 32:3). The scriptures are the words of Christ and our guide to show us how we can partake of his Salvation. When we read and study the scriptures we will be able to receive revelation in our lives to know what we should do in our times of trial. 
SO when the fourth quarter comes in our lives and the game is on line. Remember to hold up the four! The playbook is easy to access we just have to open the scriptures. And as we listen and follow Heavenly Father's Prophets and Apostles we will over come any challenge life will throw at us. I know when things get hard in our lives we can turn to these strongholds and come off conquer.
