Tuesday 13^th June

Continuing with my World Cup predictions: Brazil 3, Croatia 1; France 1, Switzerland 1; S Korea 3, Toga 0.

 

 

If football had been around 2,000 years ago, what sort of footballer would Jesus have been?

 

If I was in to bad jokes, I’d say he’d have to be a goalie because we all know that Jesus saves!!! As I’m not into jokes that bad I won’t mention it.

 

When I was a child there was a prayer that we were encouraged to say. Its first line was, ‘Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.’ The trouble with this prayer is that too many people see it as a complete description of Jesus. He’s a nice man who would never hurt anyone, never say anything offensive and who would avoid confrontations. Many non Christians have an image of Jesus that is nice but soft and certainly not someone you would want in you football team.

 

This is inaccurate.

 

I use to live by the sea. It is no exaggeration to say that the sea is never tamed. Those who work on the water warn that if you lose respect for the sea, you lose. Professional fishermen (as opposed to those who fish for a hobby) are among the toughest people I’ve ever met. That’s not to say they are mean and unkind but they regularly face dangerous, difficult and frightening situations and are not easily intimidated.

 

Imagine then, for a moment, a group of these men on the shore, cleaning their nets after a night’s work, when a gentle, meek, mild, soft, nice man comes up and says, “Why don’t you give that up and follow me instead?” The fishermen I’ve known would have laughed.

 

As a man, Jesus was tough. He received the immediate respect of tough men. There was a gentleness about him – children ran to him – but he was not soft or wimpish.

 

Jesus is our brother, friend, saviour, Lord and King.