November 18, 2021 – Click here to listen
I awoke this morning thinking of two of my best friends, TK Wetherell and Jack – “Murf the Surf” – Murphy, who have both gone on to be with the Lord. It seems I would get over their passing and move on, but I just cannot seem to manage it. I think of them every day of my life.
I always admired the famous and fearless leader of the WWII era, General George S. Patton. He said one time: “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.” This made a lot of sense to me, and I got to wondering if the world is a better place because I existed, or is it worse, or was I just a waste of human flesh and my life was like removing my finger from a glass of water and not even noticeable. I suppose we should all think of such things while there is yet time afforded to us by our Creator.
TK was Speaker of the House in Florida for many years, he played football for Coach Bobby Bowden at FSU and then went on to become the President of FSU for eight years before retiring. He was an inspiration and after he accepted Christ as his Savior, he did all he could do to advance the kingdom. Murf of course was a reformed and redeemed former inmate and went on to become a legendary figure in prison ministry visiting more prisons and ministering to more inmates than anyone of which I am aware. Both of them overcame the world and achieved their purpose and the passage in 2 Timothy 4:7 applied to both of them: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
I thank God that these men lived!
We all have a purpose in life. God has gifted us all with the strength, ability, and endurance that are necessary to accomplish it. We just need to do it! We have been given a free will to decide whether or not to accept the challenge and diligently work towards the goal of knowing at the end of our stay here that we fought the good fight, finished the race, and most importantly kept the faith.
To hear either of these men tell it nothing came easy to them. It took perseverance to fight through discouragement and attacks of lesser men who stood afar and criticized. Undaunted they entered the arena daily and courageously fought the good fight and at the end were victorious.
I thank God that these men lived.
1 Cor. 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.