Archive for December, 2006

Heisman Trophy Award

Friday, December 15th, 2006

 The Heisman Trophy is awarded each year to the best college football player.  The award statue shows a player running with the ball tucked safely away in his left arm while his right arm is extended to stiff-arm any would be tacklers.  It is a classic American football pose. 

 

I think the Heisman pose is a very accurate depiction of how we often must look to God when he calls us into service.  For example, if you look at the classic paintings of the Annunciation, many of them show Mary in an almost evasive posture toward God. Mary is troubled by Gabriel’s greeting and doesn’t seem to want her role as a virgin mother. 

Many of us to try to evade God’s call and role in life don’t we?  We stiff arm God when he tries to tackle us with a new calling or role in life.  We want to keep the ball of control safely tucked away where we can run with it without God reaching it.  How about it … are you ready to stop stiff-arming God?  Are you ready to hand him the ball so that he can run your life?  Kind of scary isn’t it?

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Highly Favored

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

I am increasingly convinced that most of us do not really want God’s favor unless we specifically ask for it.  In other words, we want God only when we want God or need God.  We would like God to be at our beck and call.  We surely do not want to be at God’s beck and call.
The Virgin Mary is greatly troubled when an angel tells her that she is “highly favored” (Luke 1:28).  This is before she hears the message of the virgin birth!  She is “troubled” by being highly favored, by the fact that “God is with” her.  Most of us are.  We want to favor God when and if we so choose.  We will (or will not) be with God on our timetable.  But God favoring us before and irregardless of our choice in the matter seems inappropriately pushy of God.  Doesn’t he know that we have lives of our own?
The truth of scripture is that God is pushy, jealous even!  Are you ready to submit to his jealous push?

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