I recently saw a news segment about James “Buster” Douglas, who rose to fame in the boxing world by defeating the Heavy Weight Champion of the world, Mike Tyson, twenty years ago this month. What caught my interest was what Buster said during the interview when asked about how quickly he lost the title belt as fast as he won it. He said, “I was ready to be the World Heavy Weight Champion. I was ready for the fight for it. I worked hard and I trained long and just as hard and I beat Mike Tyson for the title. But I wasn’t ready for what that kind of stardom and fame the title brought.” When Buster fought Evander Holyfield eight months later, he was fifteen pounds over weight and out of shape. He was knocked out in the third round. He retired from boxing soon after.

I thought about how what happen to Buster seems to happen so many times to people who “go to God” or “try Jesus” because their lives are in need of something. Often times, people “give their hearts” to Jesus because there is a dire situation that forces them to look for help beyond themselves. They have felt that they have tried everything, now it’s time to “try God”. Much to their surprise, God means a little more business than they do, or more than they intended anyway. They find themselves in a life now where they don’t get to call the shots. They’re not the boss and God lets them know in no uncertain terms. What really happens is that their idea about “trying God” is hoping that God will square up their lives and bless them here and there, but they themselves will still hold on to those life practices that got them in their dire situations in the first place.

Sometimes these folks have considered long and hard about making that decision for Christ. I have heard testimony after testimony of the white-knuckle, tear wrenching, breath-taking gulp of… “Yes, I accept Jesus Christ!” Then, they walk away and wait; and they wait; they wait for God to do something. If God doesn’t “do something” in the time period that they have allotted Him, they walk further away. Or maybe they try the Christian life for a while and do the religious scene. For all practical purposes, the Sunday Church scene will hold back a few demons, but it will never prepare you for the Love of God that overwhelms you through Jesus Christ.

Some folks have a hard time being loved by God. Why? Because His love brings on demands of a sort. It’s like this; when a person is saved from drowning by another person, the person feels indebted to the one who saved them. Well, God saves from eternal death, so obviously the debt incurred is assumed much bigger (Romans 8:12). When the obligation looms large on one’s conscious, there is a tendency to give up. It was G.K. Chesterton, who said, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” In another place he said, “When belief in God becomes difficult, the tendency is to turn away from Him; but in heaven’s name to what?”

Where will you ever find another love like His; a love that loves indiscriminately and without fail. A love that warns of the dangers of this world; with its deceptive allurements and the brevity of life. A love that speaks to the conscious mind that decisions should be weighed in the light of eternity and in paths chosen where One has gone before. A love that demands fidelity; even in the moments of solitude and under the cover of darkness. Where can anyone find another love like that of God’s? The answer is a straight-up, “Nowhere!”

Have a God blessed week. Pastor Jim