A news item caught my attention yesterday. In an effort to compete in the “sleaziest TV network” competition, NBC has announced it will begin airing a show this fall based on Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Clubs from the 60’s. The news item that caught my attention was out of Salt Lake City; the NBC affiliate there has announced that it will not be airing the program on its station. According to KSL-TV station program director Michelle Torsak,
The station is currently promoting a project it has started called the “Out in the Light Campaign,” where they are seeking to educate
the public on the negative effects of viewing pornography. They have decided to take a moral stand based on their principles, something that seems exceedingly rare today.
One of my favorite books is Charles Sheldon’s novel In His Steps. In it, the characters are confronted with 1 Peter 2:21 (ESV);
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
The story then follows several characters as they seek to fulfill the call to follow Christ, regardless of what is common or popular in others’ eyes. It is convicting to realize how little we actually seek to do this with our own lives. We take the passive approach to life, following the patterns we see all around us. God calls us to engage-to actively examine whether or not our actions are in line with what He has commanded.
I was inspired when I heard the story and testimony of Glenn Coffee. As a rookie third round draft pick for the San Francisco 49ers in 2009, Coffee played a key role as a fill-in for the injured starting running back. By most accounts, he had a very promising NFL career ahead of him. 
Then he retired at the ripe old age of 23. According to Coffee:
I feel like it’s His will. It’s something that I really felt like I shouldn’t have entered the NFL in the first place. I don’t know what call God has for my life, but it wasn’t football. … I’ll be happier, not necessarily because I’m without football, but because I’m letting Him do his work. Whether it was leaving football or leaving something else, another job, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be happy because I’m following His will.
Coffee gave up fame and fortune for a future filled with unknowns simply because he believed it was what God wanted him to do. What are you willing to do to follow God’s call on your life?
Driven 