Wednesday, January 27, 2016
When I was a young man, there was a reasonably popular song by a fellow by the name of Stonewall Jackson entitled “Waterloo.” It started off with these lines: [Waterloo, Waterloo, where will you meet your Waterloo? / Every puppy has his day, everybody has to pay / Everybody has to meet his Waterloo.”] Waterloo was a place where Napoleon and his supposedly unbeatable French army got routed by the British. Meeting your waterloo, therefore, is a phrase that speaks of the high and mighty getting their posterior part kicked in a humiliating fashion. I was thinking about that song last Monday night after our beloved Spurs got a stepchild style whipping at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. I also thought of two particular verses in the Bible that address that issue. The first is Proverbs 22:4 which says: “By humility and the fear of the Lord, are riches, and honor, and life.” and the second is: Psalm 119:71 where David wrote: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”Other Bible versions have the word “humbled” instead of afflicted.
The general message in both verses is that, in the end, (no pun intended) it is a good thing to be humbled every once in a while so we don’t start thinking more highly of ourselves than we should. The more highly we regard ourselves, the longer and more painful will be our fall on the day we get humbled. Since he knew I am a life-long Yankees fan, a close friend told me one year when they lost in the World Series, “You can’t always take the world serious!” I’m still not sure whether he meant to say “serious” or “series.” Anyway, I got his message and when Christ changed my life that truth was reinforced even more.
I bet all of you can look back at the times in your life when you have been embarrassed and/or humiliated. I hope you can laugh about it today and see that it, in time, it helped mold your character. Even philosophers contend that losing builds character. That being the case, by now many of us should be people of very high character. Because it has been proven in the past that our Spurs handle defeat quite well, whether they win the NBA championship this year or not, they will always be champions in life. The truth is that all God’s children are more than champions. That is why Paul wrote:“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37) Even late Monday night, I kept telling myself over and over again, “Its only a game! There are much more important things in life to get concerned about than a basketball game.” May we never forget that truth. Even so, the Spurs will bounce back.
Memory verse for the week: (Matthew 5:16) “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
