Making The Most

   Big-time athletes must have it made. With those mega salaries, even with short careers, they must be set for life.  Not really.  An article in Sports illustrated found that 70%of NFL and 60% of NBA are broke within five years of finishing their careers in the league.

So, it must be the stars that make it big? Well, if you look at the NBA's wealthiest players you might think that with Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson in the top 5. That is until you run across Junior Bridgeman. I’m guessing you never heard of him. Bridgeman played 12 seasons in the NBA until 1987 when he made his max salary of $350,000. In his career, he made a few million total but that wasn’t what made him rich, it is what he did with it.

 While he was still in the league, Bridgeman would work for a local Wendy’s franchise to learn the restaurant business. When he retired from the NBA he bought it. Then another and another. Then a Chili’s until he owned over 100 different restaurants. He sold those and became a bottler for Coca-Cola. He expanded that business internationally. Then he started a media empire that includes Ebony and Jet magazines. His net worth is currently is believed to be around $600 million.

 In this season when we think about our blessings, I think we also need to consider what we do with them. A blessing we waste isn’t as great of a blessing as it should be.  Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more” (Luke 12:48).

  We have been blessed. Are we using it well? Are we setting aside our pride so we can learn and grow to use what has been given to us? Do we grow or do we just bury what we have?

  When we count our blessings, we also need to count the opportunities those blessings provide.