Shaun was once a brilliant footballer and certainly ‘one of the boys’ at the local footy club. He was destined for great things on the football field – surely a star in the making – and his mates reckoned he was a bit of a legend both on the field and off.

Then one day he ‘found God’ and football didn’t matter any more. He still enjoyed it, but it didn’t occupy the same place in his life or his heart.

I saw Shaun last week. He is an old friend and someone I hope to stay in touch with as much as distance permits. Yesterday I went to a movie with one of those blokes who played footy with Shaun.

We discussed that period of life. ‘What happened?…’ M asked. ‘One minute he was into footy and the next he found God? How does a bloke shift his life like that?’

25 years later this question still puzzled him…

Shaun’s life was a livng parable – a story that spoke of hope, but did so in a way that aroused curiosity.

As I was praying this morning I felt like God was saying our lives ought to be ‘living parables’. Stories that engage people yet also puzzle them – that cause them to question and seek more – that tell a story of God’s kingdom in a visible compelling way.

Shaun did that.