(Idea prompted by: “A Hot Faith,” by J. Randal Matheny in Forthright, July 20, 2009, http://forthright.net/2009/07/20/a_hot_faith/)
By Don Ruhl
Do you like: Cold French fries? Cold black coffee? Do you like it when the restaurant server fails to bring the food as it gets cold? Do you cook your food hot, then let it cool down completely before serving it?
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In the last few years, it seems more and more that I have had up close and personal contact with a friend and/or loved one who has been diagnosed with Cancer. Some of these friends/loved ones were not able to withstand the fight and have gone to their eternal home. Then, there are those who are reminded every day of their diagnoses as they comb their hair and it begins to fall.
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You I have formed,
your name I know
with you in this life
I will be sure to go.
No oceans to deep,
no rivers to wide
a way for your troubles
to you I'll provide.
Wherever you go,
I'll be with you
whatever you face
I'll see it through.
No flame shall sear,
your heart from Me
for I'll kindle the fire…
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How many times in your life have you heard that God loves you? How many times have you really believed it? I mean believe it so deeply, that it blots out the life you are living and all the bad stuff you have been enduring?
It has taken half my life to figure out that God loves me…despite years of Sunday school and church. I can’t tell you how many times we sang “Jesus loves me, this I know….” And yet…..I went away from Sunday school not really knowing in my heart just how much he really loves me. In fact, I can still remember rolling my eyes every time we sang it. Seriously, have you ever rolled your eyes at the thought of God’s love for you?
You know what the first thing I often hear from someone after I tell them God loves them…? “yeah, well, if God really loves me, how come I have to suffer such hard times…how come people have to suffer, children have to die, there is still war and hunger…..” I’m willingly to bet you have heard that too….
Satan cannot destroy God……but what he has been successful in doing is making the world believe that God doesn’t really love us. Does that mean that we won’t have to suffer his wrath when we go against him? Nope.
I would need a calculator to figure all the times I suffered my Grandmother’s wrath…..yet I would need to be a math genius to figure all the times she loved me despite her wrath.
I have experienced some pretty bad things in my life…..(and I know your have too) but sadly, I didn’t know that God loved me so much that he brought me through those bad times – even sacrificed his son so that none of my bad choices in this life will be held against me.
God has opened my eyes to see that his great love for me isn’t that he will take away the bad things…his overwhelming love for me comes from the strength he gives me to live despite the bad things and the grace he has given me so that he can remain present in my life despite my sin. If we suffer a death in this world that was not meant to be…if children have to suffer and die….I believe God allows it because he knows that nothing in this life matters….and that Jesus has prepared a paradise where we will never feel pain again and that eternity will be much longer than the time we spend in this life.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Yes, Jesus us really does love us!
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I can still remember playing on the football team in school…ah the memories, but what I really remember with clarity, is that sinking feeling when our football team arrived at our opponent’s field to play a game. I never admitted to it – to do so would have brought wrath from the coach for being negative before a game. I couldn’t help it….when we walked onto our opponent’s field, we were alone – they had cheerleaders, a home crowd cheering for them in the bleachers, even a band playing inspiring songs…what did we have? Sure, we had the faith that we could win…after all, we were coming off of a week of grueling practices and we had the faith that we could win if we just played true to our playbook and listened well to our coach. And there was that very inspiring pep rally before we boarded the bus……
Unfortunately, faith in our abilities and the ability of our coach was not always quite enough. But, at least we had the hamburgers or pizza after the game……
No matter how hard we try to live in this world…we will eventually fail because we cannot live without God! Sure, we can have seasons of prosperity – especially if we are seeking to win the wrong game.
The thing about our away games…..was that no matter how many cheerleaders were on their side, or how loud the band was playing, we never lost sight of the fact that we weren’t on our home field.
In this world, however, many are deceived into believing this earth is their home. They make plans like they are never going to leave it. Satan dazzles them with all kinds of toys, money, careers, even families. The hardest thing is that satan has lots of cheerleaders…..he makes it a point to lure us into believing this is really our home. God loves us and the games we play in this world matter not to him…..so Christ died in order to save us because God knew we could not survive this world without him.
It can be discouraging for believers to live a life of Christ, ignoring themselves and this crazy, mixed up world, only to watch all the cheering across the field.
When Jesus came to this world….he was not on his home turf, so to speak. Yes, God created this world….but had to abandon it when sin came into it. So Jesus became the “away” team and satan was the home team. In fact, right after he was babtized, God sent him on the most grueling away games you could ever imagine. He sent Jesus into the desert – satan’s home turf.
Yes, Jesus did not eat for 40 days…..and his body was most likely weak. But it wasn’t his body that he needed to depend on to face satan. Once Jesus was baptized and was given the holy ghost, he had everything he would need. He did not have to depend on his earthly body at all.
No matter what satan did to impress him, Jesus never lost sight of where his home really was. He never lost faith in God’s word and was not afraid to use it against satan. Satan was the team that lost that day…and when Jesus died on the cross, satan would never win again.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. John 19:30
As long as we accept Jesus as our savior and believe that he played the toughest away game satan could ever play against us……
We win!
The difference between an away game in this world, and the home game in heaven…is that we don’t get the cheerleaders until after the game is over!
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10
Some have it comfortable in this world……some have to play a rough game….but oh how I remember that wonderful feeling in the locker room when we won and I’m not willing to sacrifice that joyous feeling that will last for eternity for a short time of winning all the games.
Is our away game tough….? You bet it is…but imagine how much easier even the toughest game can be….if you already know you will win?
I was blessed by a friend who sent this story which moved me….I pray you are too!
From www.hissheep.org
There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States . Dr.Christianson taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course his or her freshman year, regardless of his or her major.
Although Dr Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.
This year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going onto seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor’s class.
One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. He asked, “How many push-ups can you do?”
Steve said, “I do about 200 every night.”
“200? That’s pretty good, Steve,” Dr. Christianson said. “Do you think you could do 300?”
Steve replied, “I don’t know…. I’ve never done 300 at a time.”
“Do you think you could?” again asked Dr. Christianson.
“Well, I can try,” said Steve.
“Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it,” said the professor.
Steve said, “Well… I think I can…yeah, I can do it”
Dr. Christianson said, “Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let me explain what I have in mind.”
Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts. No, these weren’t the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christianson’s class.
Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, “Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?”
Cynthia said, “Yes.”
Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?”
“Sure.” Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Dr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia’s desk.
Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, “Joe, do you want a donut?”
Joe said, “Yes.”
Dr. Christianson asked, “Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?”
Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut.
Walking down the second aisle, Dr. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship.
When the professor asked, “Scott do you want a donut?”
Scott’s reply was, “Well, can I do my own pushups?”
Dr. Christianson said, “No, Steve has to do them.”
Then Scott said, “Well, I don’t want one then.”
Dr. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?” With perfect obedience Steve started to do ten pushups.
Scott said, “HEY! I said I didn’t want one!”
Dr. Christianson said, “Look! , this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it.” And he put a donut on Scott’s desk.
Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow.
Dr. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry. Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, “Jenny, do you want a donut?”
Sternly, Jenny said, “No.”
hen Dr. Christianson asked Steve, “Steve, would you do ten more push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?” Steve did ten….Jenny got a donut.
By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say “No” and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.
Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.
Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten pushups in a set because he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s work for all of those uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely.
Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row. During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.
Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.
Steve asked Dr. Christianson, “Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?”
Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, “Well, they’re your pushups. You are in charge now. You can do them any way that you want.” And Dr. Christianson went on.
A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, “NO! Don’t come in! Stay out!”
Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, “No, let him come.”
Professor Christianson said, “You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him?”
Steve said, “Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut”
Dr. Christianson said, “Okay, Steve, I’ll let you get Jason’s out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?”
Jason, new to the room, hardly knew what was going on. “Yes,” he said, “give me a donut.”
“Steve, will you do ten push ups so that Jason can have a donut?” Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.
Dr. Christianson finished the fourth row, and then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lifthimself against the force of gravity. By this time sweat was profusely dropping off of his face, there was no sound except his heavy breathing; there was not a dry eye in the room.
The very last two students in the room were two young women, both cheerleaders, and very popular. Dr. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, “Linda, do you want a doughnut?”
Linda said, very sadly, “No, thank you.”
Professor Christianson quietly asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?” Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.
Then Dr Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. “Susan, do you want a donut?”
Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. “Dr. Christianson, why can’t I help him?”
Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, “No, Steve has to do it alone, I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked my grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes.”
“Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?” As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
Dr. Christianson turned to the room and said. “And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, plead to the Father, ‘into thy hands I commend my spirit.’ With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten.”
Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile.
“Well done, good and faithful servant,” said the professor, adding “Not all sermons are preached in words.”
Turning to his class, the professor said, “My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He spared not only His Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all, for the whole Church, now and forever. Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid.”
“Wouldn’t you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it lying on the desk?”
Jesus – our promised savior has risen, defeating death, so we can too…
If we will only believe!
“And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead;” Matthew 28:7
