17 years of Clayton! Play the Man!
Dear Clayton,
I want to encourage you on your 17th birthday to “play the man”. When you are surrounded by the Enemy, when you are feeling overwhelmed and fearful, remember that others have been there before you. Joab first said it to his brother in 2 Samuel 10:12 when he took his best men and went out to defeat the Syrians while Abishai was heading out with the rest of the army to fight the Ammonites, “Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him” (2 Samuel 10:12)?
There was an Englishman names Hugh Latimer who was burned at the stake for his protestant teaching and preaching who said something similar to a fellow pastor,”Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”
What does it mean for you to play the man?
In modern English it means to be courageous. It is my prayer as it was your dad’s, that you would always trust in the sovereignty of God and stand firm in the reality of who you are in Christ. If you continue to lean in to his sovereignty, have the faith to say, “May the Lord do whatever seems good to Him.”
So Clayton, on the last year of your childhood as you look across the bridge to adulthood, I ask you to “play the man”. Be courageous. “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like a man, be strong and let all you do be done in love.” 1 Cor. 16:13, 14.
I could just say, be like your dad!