When we surrender our lives to God and put our future in His hands, what does He do for us? He takes us to a place we could not get on our own. He transforms us, making us completely new.
When I first came to faith in Jesus Christ I was very different than I am today. Over the past twenty years He has been helping me develop into a man who is more and more like Him all the time. Long way to go of course, but the laziness, selfishness, lack of intellectual curiosity, nearly complete lack of self-awareness that characterized my life have gradually been chipped away.
Haven’t we all seen the kid who comes into our program as a 9th grader who flunks the eyeball test with flying colors? There is no way this kid will ever play for us. Nothing personal, he’s just not a player. Then, right before our eyes, over a period of 2-3 years, this kid is a completely different cat. He’s grown 5 inches, completely bought into the weight room, and you just can’t keep him off the field. This kid understood that his job is to bring a first-rate attitude and effort every day to everything he does. He also understood my job as a Coach, and trusted me to lead.
Last Sunday I heard a sermon at church that rocked my world. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a more complete, clear and concise explanation of who Jesus is, what He calls us to, and what the good news of His Gospel means in the context of the world we live in. The message was delivered with a blend of Biblical truth, logic, emotion and personal honesty/humility that was nothing short of inspired. If you plan to have 41 minutes available any time in the next few years, I would highly recommend you download the podcast of this message. I’ll include a link at the bottom of this post, and believe me, I have no personal stake in this. They’re not paying me royalties or anything. There were plenty of great points made in this sermon, but one of them was that Jesus has a no-cut policy. Everyone is welcome on this team. Our job is to show up and bring a great attitude and effort, and His job is to take our broken lives and transform us.