Norm Miller is a great friend who owns Interstate Battery Company. His hobby is race cars and indeed, he and Joe Gibbs own one of the fastest NASCAR-class hot rods in the country. Norm & Joe have won the Daytona 500 and countless more of America’s most prestigious races. No doubt, Norm puts the finest engine, tires, transmission and fuel into his car, but he’ll tell you in a second that the primary reason for his successes is his driver. The car gets you to races, but the driver wins them.
Once when umpire Babe Pinelli called Babe Ruth out on strikes, Ruth made a populist argument, “There’s 40,000 people here that know the last one was a ball, tomato head.” Pinelli replied with stateliness, “Maybe so, but mine is the only opinion that counts.”
In football, there are only 25 precious seconds between plays to run to the huddle, communicate the next play, line-up in unison on the line of scrimmage and snap the ball. The task is impossible without a quarterback that’s skilled enough to direct the huddle with complete authority and a team that’s trusting enough to give him total respect.
Likewise, your heart is the driver of your life, the quarterback of your mind and the umpire that calls balls and strikes. It is the volitional center where life makes up its mind. Your heart tells you to say “yes” when it’s right, and “no” when it’s wrong. That’s why Jesus wants to occupy your heart. He wants to be the driver because good drivers win the big races.