Monday 13 September 2010

Early Football Season Potential and Tension

A new season of American football has just begun. This year, some are predicting the Green Bay Packers will be in the Super Bowl championship. The Minnesota Vikings could be quite good as well. So locally here there is some excitement – and tension. We have heard things like this before. Dare we hope?

We hear about the potential. But there have been many years with potential. And when the potential did not become reality, we were disappointed. There is a tension inside. Dare we hope for success this year?

Sports fan know all too well that potential does not always pan out in the way we hoped. And outside of sports, most of us experience some of the same.

Each day there is potential. Each weekday evening has potential. Each weekend has potential. If you are anything like me (and hopefully not too much), you may have mixed success. The To Do list goes on for years. And I keep dreaming up new things to do and accomplish. I make plans sometimes. But then…

I come home. I fix something to eat. I might catch up on some news, mail, and personal news on Facebook. And before I know it, it is almost bedtime. Some of the potential seemed to get lost along the way.

This past weekend was a mixture as well. I had some firm plans. I had a bit of success. But other things I hoped for did not come through. A class went longer than expected. There were some things at home. I took time to blog. And other stuff… Some aspects of the weekend were quite disappointing. But I also must share that some things were much better than expected. So I suppose it all averages out to a B grade or something. It wasn’t all bad. But it had the potential to be better.

And where did the summer go? How about the past year, the past decade? How about our lives? How about our relationships, our careers, our parenting, our impact on the world? There was tons of potential. What happened?

Sometimes there are external forces and circumstances that hinder us. But mostly, we made choices. And I, personally, do not always choose what is best. Perhaps you have made a few choices here and there that could have been better as well.

And at this point you understandably may be feeling, “This is quite a downer.” But Jesus did not come to condemn the world. He came to save it. Refer to John 3:17.

Yes, most of us have not always chosen well, in big and small ways. And we have sinned and offended God and other people. But it does no good for me or you to say “We are bad and will never amount to much. We blew it.”

You are forgiven. Hear it. You are forgiven. Say it to yourself, “I am forgiven.” As a Christian, I have authority to declare that over your life. (John 20:23) And I am forgiven too. Just as sports teams start out the new season, we now have zero losses.

We are set free. It is a new day. There may be some consequences from the past. But we cannot change the past. We start with this moment forward. We can walk in freedom, freedom to do right, freedom to go higher, freedom to think higher. In the next minutes, in the next days, we will have choices set before us. With a clean slate, we can choose well. The coming days and years have incredible potential for amazing things. Lord, help us make it reality.

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