There’s something about purpose, something about buying into the concept of destiny that inherently evens the odds.

Nowhere will you find more examples of this principle than in the Bible, where unlikely heroes saved entire nations. Moses was a self-conscious exile with a speech problem, yet God used him to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. David was an undersized shepherd boy living under the shadow of his strong, able-bodied older brothers; still he was empowered to kill the mammoth Philistine warrior Goliath and rescue his people from certain defeat. Mary was a teenage girl from a nondescript lineage, but God called her to be the mother of Jesus, the Savior of the world.

In 1982, the Miami Dolphins football team faced the New England Patriots at Schaefer Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Snow began to fall during the game, and by the fourth quarter the wintry conditions had contributed to a scoreless tie. But late in the game, the Patriots drove down the field and came within field-goal range, where a successful kick would likely win the game. The New England coach ordered a snowplow to clear a spot for the kicking team, enabling the kicker to set his foot firmly on the turf. As a result, he kicked the game-winning field goal.

Even though it’s bad thinking, we do it all the time. We see someone succeed in the athletic world, and we automatically jump to the conclusion that they are successful for two main reasons: natural talent and hard work.

When sports fans think about hockey—and in particular the NHL—there’s no telling what imagery might come to mind.

For some, hockey is all about the pinpoint passing skills. For others, it’s the forceful nature of the slap shot. Some might even reference the catlike prowess of the ever-alert goalkeepers, and their distinctive protective gear and colorful masks. Of course, most can’t talk about hockey without mentioning the bone-crushing cross-checks into the boards or those legendary (if not mandatory) nightly brawls.

We’ve all said it: The secret to success is practice, practice, practice. Sometimes we’ll put the word “perfect” in front of all of those “practices” to nail down an even more effective plan. We all know that without practice we’ll never reach the level of play that we desire.

When I was in high school, I trusted my coaches completely, so I practiced whatever they told me to. I desired success, which helped me to listen to them and heed their advice. In the same way, when we read that Paul urges us to “do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,” we would be wise to heed his advice. A quick scan of the context reveals some of what Paul would want us to put into practice: