Our Junior College football team was playing for the State Championship, and the game was played in Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California. It was night and we were warming up on the field and as I was running through a play, I happened to look up at the top of the stadium. It was a December night but over the edge of the top tier of the stadium, it looked like some great hand was pouring a pitcher of milk over the top and onto the field. I think everyone else stopped and we just watched and then realized that it was coastal fog that was coming in and was rolling over the top of the stadium and down onto the field. We all kind of laughed a bit at this strange sight, but we had more important things to focus on that night. The game started and the fog kept coming in and it got thicker and thicker. It got to the point where you couldn’t see anything on the field, and less in the stands! I had never seen anything like that. Finally, the referees blew a whistle and called both coaching staffs to the center of the field and told them that they couldn’t see anything and that there was no way that the game could be played. Well, as I remember, we had gone about a quarter, and we were ahead. They talked for some time while we all stood on the sidelines and then the coaches called us together and told us that the referees were calling the game. I’d never heard of that before…at least not for fog! But the crazy thing was we would come back the next morning and start the game all over again. We looked at our coaches and each other and realized that we would all start clean the next day. They fed us and took us to the motel and we got up and ate breakfast and they bussed us to the stadium and everything started like nothing had happened the night before. Now for us, the story ended up great and we won the game and became State Champs, but everything that had happened the night before was wiped out and there was no history or statistical records kept. I couldn’t believe that could possibly happen…that it was just wiped out from history. But then, six months later, I gave my life to this Jesus of the Bible. And I read in the Bible that my history had been wiped clean as far as God and heaven was concerned. And not only that, but when I would sin, that I could come back to this same God and confess my sins to him and that he would be faithful and just to forgive my sins and cleanse me from all wickedness. This is the first day of a brand-new year. No matter what last year was like for you or what failures you had, remember that the God of the Bible is the God of the second chance. And the third and the fourth and…well you get the idea. Let this new year be a new beginning for you and for me. Let’s confess our sins and purpose to follow this one who loves us more than anyone ever has or ever will. And together we can walk into this new year hearing the voice of Jesus who declares that he makes all things new again. Happy New Year to you and yours. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
1 John 1:9 NLT But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
1 John 1:9 NLT But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.