What’s In Your Account?
There’s a legend associated with Paul “Bear” Bryant that has nothing to do with college football at Alabama or with wrestling a live bear while growing up in Fordyce, Arkansas.
This particular story is classified as a “legend” because it may not be true. But it does provide us with some truth, and all truth is God’s truth, as the saying goes, so this legend is worth sharing.
Bryant wasn’t outspoken about his faith or religious matters, but supposedly he left two things behind when he died in 1983 that indicate he privately kept some counsel with God. One was a written prayer on a yellow piece of paper that was in his wallet and that he was known to read to individuals, as well as to his teams.
That prayer can be found among a collection of Bryant memorabilia in the museum at the University of Alabama that bears his name, so that part is a fact, not legend. And the prayer is related to the legend, so take a look at it:
“This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I do today is very important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving something in its place I have traded for it. I want it to be gain, not loss—good, not evil. Success, not failure in order that I shall not forget the price I paid for it.”
The other thing Bryant supposedly kept – some say it was in his wallet, others merely that it was among his possessions – was a story about a magic bank account. Versions of this story are all over the internet. A few bloggers act as if they wrote it and some trace it back to Bryant, but no one seems to know the original author.
Here’s one version:
MAGIC BANK ACCOUNT
Imagine this: Each morning your bank deposits $86,400 in your private account for your personal use. However, there are rules.
Everything that you didn’t spend during each day would be taken away from you.
You may not simply transfer money into some other account.
You may only spend it.
Each morning, the bank deposits into your account another $86,400 for that day alone.
The bank can end the game without warning; at any time, it can say, “Game Over!”
It can close the account, and you will not receive a new one.
Before continuing reading, ask yourself,
“What would I do?”
Maybe you would buy anything and everything you wanted; not only for yourself, but for all the people you love and care for; maybe, even for people you don’t know, because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself.
No doubt, you would try to spend every penny and use it all, because you know it will be replenished the next morning. It’s a fun thought experiment, but what if it was real and even more was at stake?
Well, this concept is real, and it happens every day. It’s not money in the bank, but time given to you by God.
Each morning each of us awakens to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life.
When we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is not credited to us.
What we haven’t used up that day is forever lost.
Yesterday is forever gone.
Each morning the account is refilled, but your account can be dissolved at anytime without warning.
Now that it’s real, what will you do with your daily gift from God? You have 86,400 seconds to spend each day. Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars.
Remember to enjoy as much of every second of your life that you can. Start spending! Thank God for the gift of time you receive each morning. Take good care of yourself and make sure your time is well-spent.
Lessons
Bryant’s prayer is a reminder to live out the moral of the story, which is to live each day with gratitude to God for the gift of life and to spend our time well while we have it. Interestingly, I came upon the magic bank account story while my daily Bible reading had me in Luke’s gospel. And during that reading, part of a verse stuck out to me in a fresh way.
Right in the middle of Luke 12:33, staring back at me as if I’d never read it before, was this sentence:
“Make money-bags for yourself that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven.”
That’s from the Christian Standard Bible, and, frankly, it was the term “money-bags” that got my attention and sent me scrambling to other versions. Several use money-bags, money bags, or moneybags, and I see no need to argue about whether it’s one word, two words, or hyphenate. Other versions use money belts, bags, or purses.
I thought the CSB was my favorite version, but the good old King James eventually won out: “Provide yourselves purses which wax not old.”
Powerful and poetic! When the Holy Spirit writes something, He doesn’t mess around! A day or two later, the very day I read the magic bank account story, I was in Luke 16, where the gospel writer quotes Jesus when He said, “So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine?” (Luke 16:11, CSB)
Genuine = authentic, real, bona fide. The things of God. The things in heaven.
All of this challenges me to give serious thought and prayer to how I use my life – not just my time and money, but my thoughts, my relationships, and everything else God has given me to steward on his behalf until I die or He returns.
Will I sow it into futile soil? (See Matthew 13)
Will I bear fruit by preaching the good news and comforting the afflicted? (See Matthew 9:35-38)
Will I store up treasures for myself or treasures for heaven? (See Matthew 6:19-21)
Will I bury what I’ve been given or invest it in Kingdom growth? (See Matthew 25:14:30)
Will I…
When we think about it, those questions are just the start of an endless list. There is so much we need to do for God, because God has done so much for us. And, frankly, the weight of that list can start to feel a bit heavy for someone weak and weary like me. Thankfully, we serve a God who tell us that His yoke is easy and his burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)
So let me end with one final list, and it ties us back to the prayer found in Bryant’s wallet.
A few years ago I came up with what I call my B.F.H.F. prayers. That stands for “Before Feet Hit Floor.” It’s four simple things I try to pray for each morning before I get out of bed.
Gratitude/humility: “God, thank you for breathing life into me.”
Support/wisdom: “God, fill me fresh with the Holy Spirit.”
Priorities: “God, if I accomplish nothing else today, help me love Jesus more, know Jesus better, and serve Jesus well.”
Surrender: “God, I commit my plans and this day to you.”
Those aren’t the be-all, end-all of morning prayer options, just the ones that work well for me. There are days when I’m making coffee with bleary eyes and aching knees and it dawns on me that I didn’t pray before I got up. There are days I forget one or those four prayers, but when I start my day with prayer and surrender, I always have a better sense of how to invest the next 86,400 seconds of life that God has given me.
Side note: Bryant was on his way to Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Dec. 7, 1941, where he was to be named the new head coach of the University of Arkansas football team. News broke about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and Bryant and his traveling companion – baseball Hall of Famer Bill Dickey – turned around and went back to Nashville, where Bryant enlisted in the Navy. After World War II, he coached at Maryland, Kentucky, and Texas A&M before his legendary career at Alabama.