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A
Reason to Cheer
It
was a mild October afternoon in 1982 and Badger
Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin was packed. Over 60,000
die-hard University of Wisconsin fans were watching
their beloved football team take a beating by Michigan
State. What seemed odd was that as the score became
more and more lopsided, bursts of cheers and applause
kept being heard in the stands. It was only natural
that some people began to wonder who these strange
people were who were cheering while their team was
being pummeled.
As
it turns out, seventy miles away from Badger stadium
the Milwaukee Brewers were beating the St. Louis
Cardinals in game three of the World Series. Many of
the Badger fans in the stands were listening to
portable radios and responding to something else
besides what was happening right in front of their
eyes. *
As
we consider some glaring problems in the world today
– political unrest, a struggling economy, war, and
the like – we may find it difficult to find
something for which we can cheer.
Yet, there IS something else upon which we can
place our focus that gives us reason to rejoice....
In
the middle of the 1st century, there was a
group of people that lived in the area known as Asia
Minor that suffered a lot of grief in the midst of all
kinds of trials.
But even though they lived in difficult
circumstances, they were “filled with an
inexpressible and glorious joy.”
These
people were Christians.... and even though they
suffered from intense persecution, they rejoiced
because they could look forward “to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade
away” that was “reserved in heaven” for them (1
Peter 1:3-9). This
hope for “better days ahead” and eternal life in
heaven gave them strength – and joy! – for the
present.
WE
can also have this hope through Christ!
Peter wrote to those suffering-yet-rejoicing
Christians: “Praise be to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us
new birth into a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead,” (1 Peter 1:3).
Jesus
provided the basis of our hope when He died on the
cross for our sins (Eph 1:7) and rose again for
our justification (Rom 4:25).
You and I can be “born again” to a living
hope when we by faith
(Acts 16:30-31) and repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confess
Jesus (Rom 10:9-10) and are baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins
(Acts 2:38; Rom 6:3-4).
As
we look around,
we may not find much about which to cheer.
But
if we’ll look
up to God in an obedient faith, we can have
EVERYTHING for which to look forward with tremendous
JOY!
Have
YOU
been born again to that living hope?
--
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church
of Christ at Creekwood
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
*
Many thanks to Tracy Moore who shared this anecdote
this week at the 2009 Spiritual Enrichment Series in
Mobile, AL.
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