23-24 "And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved."
Romans 8:23-24 (NIV)
Athlete, life can be hard. Sometimes we can feel like a man without a country, a player without a team, a relative without a family. It's an awful, abandoned, lonely feeling. Romans 8:23-24 tells us to hang in there. It tells us to wait. It tells us allow God's Spirit to help us see some really crucial things in the waiting. He tells us, in the wait, to look:
- FOR MORE - The Spirit helps us long for solid connection, real family, full adoption, restored relationship with our Heavenly Father. There is no foster care with Him. His family connection starts here and now and goes through eternity. Everything else is temporal.
- FOR NEW - God's Spirit helps us groan for greater, for a redemption when all is made new...including our bodies. Wasting away is replaced with a renewed spirit. That sure helps to get us through when all we see and feel is perishing.
- FOR HOME - God's Spirit reminds us where home is and helps us properly wait for it. While every day we live brings us closer to death, the Spirit helps us see beyond and yearn for more. The Spirit doesn't let us settle with being satisfied with this world alone. The Spirit points to true home and helps our hearts say, "Ahhh! That's it."
- IN HOPE - God's Spirit offers much hope. That's because the Spirit always points to the One who saves - past, present, and future - Jesus. Jesus saves us from sin, damnation, hell. Jesus saves us from the world (the crushing weight of this world's pressures), the flesh (our destructive selves), and the devil (the deepest enemy of our souls). His Spirit points us to these salvations, our Savior, this Hope.
Athlete, let the Spirit of Christ put your mind at ease. Let Him keep bringing you hope for more, for new, for home. This kind of hope saves. Wait in the Spirit.
