Great Gain

I like stories about families who succeed because of hard work and a desire to see their kids succeed. There are thousands, probably millions, of stories and we will never hear most of them. Our society choses to make some public – some not.

Richard Sherman plays football for the Seattle Seahawks. When you read this you will know if he performed well in Super Bowl XLIX. Regardless, he has a 56 million dollars contract. That a lot of money. I don’t doubt he will help his family – if they will let him.

Despite having a son who recently just signed a $56 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks, Kevin Sherman still wakes up early to do the job he has done for more than two decades. Kevin, whose son Richard Sherman will play in his second-straight Super Bowl, has worked as a trash-truck driver in Los Angeles for 26 years. He told Sam Farmer of the LA Times in 2014 that he wakes up at 3:45a.m., and works holidays to make overtime. While he’s okay with taking the occasional day off here and there, he’s only 18 months away from earning his pension , SI’s Robert Klemko reports. Sherman told Klemko that he doesn’t want to live off his son. (Business Week)

The most important issue, however, is not the success, or the money, or even the hard work. I know nothing about the Sherman family, but I do know that all families need to stress with their kids, over and over again, the Biblical Truth that Jesus proclaimed clearly:

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul. (Mark 9:26) To make lots of money is great. To work hard is very good. To lose one’s soul in the pursuit of anything is to miss eternal life. Don’t do that! Please! Seek the Lord while He may be found.