Leander Green

I still remember when I was a high school sophmore at Jacksonville our football team rode the athletic skills of a star athlete named Leander Green to the state championship. It was our first round game and we came out in the first half with stars shooting out of our helmets. On the first kickoff, we received the ball and ran it back. Without even taking time for a huddle. We went to the line of scrimmage, caught the opposing team off guard, and threw a bomb for a touchdown. That’s the way the half went and by the time the horn sounded for half-time, the Jacksonville Senior High Cardinals strutted into the locker room leading the game 20 to 0. Needless to say we were on top of the world and thinking that we had this game in the bag. The second half arrived and we discovered that we had one problem: We were still living in the first half. Thinking that we had them on the ropes we relaxed. Because we lived in the past and not in the present, we blew a 20 point lead and lost 21-20. Our memories were just a little too long!

Christians are sometimes like that. They live in the past of what they used to do. Talk to them about their walk with Christ and they’ll become historical. They’ll tell you about the great experience they had in their teen years, or the way they lived for God back before they retired, but if you could really take their spiritual temperature, you’d see that their hearts are cold and their passion is low. Living in the past has sacrificed their present and they have no passion for Christ. If I am to really be intense about my Christianity, I must forget the good in my past that brings me pride.