Glory Days

I was athletic in my youth, but I wasn't really an athlete. I wasn't really that competitive or aggressive, so I had a hard time developing that 'winning' attitude.

But one day, it was different.

It was in eighth grade. And us guys were all lined up in two rows for wind sprints. The idea was that two guys would race each other down to the P.E. teacher and then, another two would race, and so on.

It came to be my turn. The guy opposite me was one of the fastest guys in the school. I won't mention any names, but his initials were K.B.

At first, K.B. was ahead of me. But I poured on the steam and caught up with him. He was surprised and poured it on as well. I caught up with him again. There we were, running neck and neck all the way down the field... both of us giving it everything we had, determined to beat the other one. Try as I might, I could not quite jet ahead of K.B., but then, he couldn't get the edge on me either.

We came in at a dead tie, heaving our lungs out.

I still remember that incident like it was yesterday.

A guy walked up to me afterwards...

"You stayed right with K.B.!" he marveled.

"Aw, he was just being nice," I replied.

"Are you kidding?" he shot back at me. "He was in front of his friends and there wasn't any way he was going to be 'nice' in front of them."

That made me feel real good. So good, in fact, I still remember every detail of the experience 41 years later!

It kind of reminds me of the Bruce Springsteen song, "Glory Days," talking about the people he knew who were stuck in the past, reliving their high school victories over and over.

That really is how many of us guys are... remembering the 'good old days.' Reliving the former days ad nauseum.

Why do we do that? Do we feel that our best days are behind? Are we threatened by the future? Are we unhappy? What is really going on inside of us when we do this?

A Bible verse that shocks me back to reality when I dwell too much on silly memories like this is Isaiah 43:18 and 19.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!”

This is God speaking.

Is it wrong to remember the past fondly? No, not really. As long as it does not cloud what's happening in the present, or where we're headed in our future.

For most of us, our best days are not behind us. They are in front of us - with God's guidance and help.

What are some goals or plans that the Lord would have you build into your understanding today?

As always, I welcome your comments.