Tough Guys

Boy you have got to love tough guys! Always showing off how tough they are, putting out cigarettes on their arms, starting fights and generally showing that they don’t give a damn about anything. Real tough, not afraid of anything! At least so they seem. I want to see just one of those tough guys willingly go through this scenario: First, a sound thrashing with a cat-o-nine tails. Now the cat-o-nine tails is truly cruel piece of arsenal. It is a whip, actually several whips attached to one handle. And on the whips are barbs and blades which, when some into contact with living flesh, literally tear chunks out and shred it like cheese. Serious pain. After that, carry a 200 pound cross up a large hill several miles away, while being beaten and jeered at the entire way. Once you get up the hill, have your hands and feet nailed to the cross you just carried up the hill, and then slowly and painfully suffocate while some one shoves a feces soaked sponge in your mouth. Any takers? Where are you tough guys now? Jesus was a REAL tough guy. He could have stopped the whole thing at any time and rained down fire on his tormentors. But he didn’t. He knew he had a job to do and he saw it through to the end. He didn’t hate his enemies or destroy them even though he could have easily done so. He prayed for them and forgave them instead.
So, how tough are you? Will you see your job trough to the end? Can you forgive your tormentors? Will you take up your cross? Want to be a REAL tough guy? It’s not easy being a real Christian, it in fact makes life tougher. But you get a real tough guy watching your back 24/7, keeping you from losing your way and helping you see your job through to the end. This life is not about us, it’s about Him.

It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
Psalms 18:32-34