Friday, August 21, 2009

It's That Time Again...

Yep, August is winding down and September will soon be here!! With the end of another summer means a number of different things. A new school year; which makes for another reminder of just how long I've been out of school. My 31st birthday will arrive in a few short weeks. I remember as a kid how it seemed like birthdays and Christmas took forever to come, now when one arrives I think, "Didn't this just happen?". Honestly though, my favorite part of this time of year is a little something I like to call football season! Within a matter of days in the state of Texas you will be able to see Friday Night Lights!! Two weeks from now will open up the OU football season. The Sooners will play the Mormons at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington. Sure, I'll follow the Cowboys but there is just something about the college game that the pro one can't compare to. I enjoy that every game is a must win, the band going crazy after a score, and seeing the Cotton Bowl split exactly down the middle in early October.

Football is greatness and I do love watching my Sooners play each Saturday afternoon, but as I learned a number of years ago; football or anything else can't become our idol. We as Americans idolize sports and television stars. We've bought into the thought that those people have it all. So often that isn't the case at all. Pro athletes and movie stars have the same problems or issues that the rest of us deal with. They as well have to deal with their own mortality. Look at how shocked everyone was with the death of Michael Jackson. Pro athletes and movie stars do think of their mortality, they just might not say it. Look at how many of these people want to save the animals or stop war. For most it's them trying to tip the scale of their life for their good deeds to out weigh the bad. For those that read the Bible, we know different. For we are saved by God's grace and not of ourselves, lest we should boast, says the book of Ephesians. Is that verse enough for us? Is it enough for us to see that there is nothing I can do for God's saving grace? Here is a bigger question; does it matter or not in the long run if it is enough for us? I'm currently reading one of RC Sproul's books and he says the following:

Have you ever seen the bumper sticker, "He said it, I believe it, that settles it!"? Have you realized that you believing it makes no difference in weather or not God's Word is true? He said it and that settles it.

So, it might be that time of year again, but when was the last time you took a nice hard look at your mortality and realized that He is in total control?

In Christ Alone,
Mr. V.