Day of Praise

Thur, 08/10/17, "Day of Praise"

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." - 1 John 3:1

I wouldn't have believed it unless I'd seen it. It happened in the non-scholarship football player dressing room at the University of Tennessee. I was in there because I was one of those guys, also known as walk-ons. 

One of the walk-ons was just a very nice guy. He worked hard on the practice field and encouraged others by writing Bible verses on his taped wrists. He'd read and mark up Bibles, then give them to other guys who needed encouragement in God's strength, and then he'd start reading and marking up another Bible for the next guy who might need it. 

He knew the great privilege that it is to be called a child of God. (1 John 3:1)

And then there was the other guy, who was a part of "the world [that] does not know [a child of God because] it did not know [God]." (1 John 3:1)

The first guy was being himself, and after practice, knowing how mentally and physically hard it was to be a walk-on, he went up to a new walk-on and encouraged him. The other guy had seen enough of this "child of God" stuff and flew out of his locker space and got in the face of the Christian guy and ranted about the Christian guy thinking he was so important because he offered his assistance to everyone. 

I don't know for sure what was going on in the heart or mind of the Christian guy because, as modeled by other godly people in the Bible, this is what he said, "_______________." Yes, you read that right; the guy was silent. 

But based on his unchanged behavior for all the rest of the years that I observed him, I'm pretty sure that the following is what was going on in the heart and mind of the Christian guy, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him (1 John 3:1)."

Praise God for those who courageously and lovingly live the faith in the strength of Christ. And let's pray to God for those who don't know him. For God shows us in the cross and resurrection of Jesus that he wants all people to know that they're God's own too!

Praise God!