These questions and more were asked about Johnny Manziel the last time he did have a job in football. He was very much a distraction to his teammates. The "Money Manziel" mantra and mentality had taken over his life. It ran him out of football.
But now look at him.
As Johnny Football is going through different pro-days to show that he can still play, he appears to be a changed man. He's not a partying frat boy anymore. He's grown up and matured.
He's calmer in how he deals with reporters, answering questions with maturity and dignity. One of his answers in an interview this past week really stuck out to me. When asked how he got off the path that he had been on, Manziel said this: "I got so low to the point that I questioned what I was doing and if my life was probably really worth living. . . I have a great family. I was always raised the right way. I knew the difference from right and wrong, but for whatever reason, I just liked to choose wrong,"
For whatever reason.
I don't know specifically what happened in Manziel's life that turned him around. I know that his family has been a huge part of that turnaround. But I do know this: it is not just "for whatever reason" that he liked to do wrong.
The Bible says this in James 1:14-15-- "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." This is not something that cannot be known. We sin because we are tempted. We are tempted because our own hearts and minds want to follow after the things of the world. Jeremiah 17:9 reads, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
Mr. Manziel, the world, curious seekers-- it doesn't matter what we do in our own strength to reach a form of right living. What matters is when we turn to God and say, like David, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10)." Some people cannot even say this. They cannot because they have not even accepted Christ's free gift of salvation.
Christ died for us when we were still in our sins-- when we were partying and getting into trouble. He died for our sins that others may not deem as that bad- our lies, our disobedience, our inward lust. No matter where we stand regarding these sins, Christ died for us.
Do not think that you can avoid "for whatever reason" forever under your own strength. That "for whatever reason" still affects my life on a daily basis. It may not be as open as others, but it is still there. Do not let another day go by without having full support in your battle against "for whatever reason." Man looks on the outside, while God looks on the heart. Only He knows the contents of it. The question now is will you let Him help you stay out of that rut, as Manziel described his life after his fall from football glory. What will you do with the God who knows your heart?
1 https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/USATSI_8927710.jpg
Comments
Post a Comment