"If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it" (Genesis 4:7 NIV).
Watching my nephews (Ryan #12 and Michael in blue) play football earlier this week reminded me of my younger days...
"Pick me!" I shouted at my friend, Gordon, as he surveyed the boys lined up and waving their hands for selection.
"I pick Combs." Gordon said, while pointing me out.
I loved playing football during afternoon recess in the fifth grade. But I hated the time of picking teams. It was nerve-wracking. You never knew when you might be chosen last. And to be chosen last was basically to be rejected all together.
"OK. I guess we'll take Combs." The boy picking might say as he realized that I was the last remaining team applicant.
I had been the "last guy" before and that's why I was always happy to see my friend Gordon (who was a popular athelete) as one of the team captains. Gordon would always choose me first, even though we both knew that I wasn't one of the top draft picks. He would choose me because we were friends, not because of my football skills (At 4' 10" and 75 pounds, I wasn't exactly the guy you wanted blocking for you).
That's why I'm glad that Jesus is my friend. I don't have the skill set to "master" sin and live a life that pleases God, but Jesus does. I don't have to be anxious about whether God will choose me or not. God is pleased with His Son. If I am in Christ, then God is pleased with me and accepts me too.
This makes me want to respond the way the prophet Isaiah did when he had a vision that the Lord was picking teams, Isaiah replied, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8)
And so, I too lift my hand and shout, "Pick me, Lord! Pick me!"
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