Redeems All Things
About this time 9 years ago, I had been a Christian for only a few months. I returned to my university & to my fraternity that I had left at the end of the Spring as a drunk, drug-induced, self-absorbed hater of God. I returned, a new creation.
At the beginning of the Fall, upon telling my fraternity brothers what God had done, it was only met with discomfort, not any type of hostility. I remember even 2 guys laughing it off & saying they gave me 2 weeks before I was drunk again. This was in part due to several short-lived religious experiences by other guys in the house who had lost a girlfriend or something like that, but never made it more than a couple weeks without falling back into the free river of booze & drugs that were readily available.
So I remember feeling only a little apprehension when deciding to go to the first house party of the fall after the first home game of the season. The phone wasn't ringing as much at my apartment, but they just needed to see the love of Christ in action. Afterall, these were my "brothers" as we had pleged.
But an amazing thing happened. Even though I had just turned 21, I felt in my conscience I should not drink. I had seen how quickly others had fallen, & I can never remember having just 1 beer or drinking for the taste of it. I chose water instead. Who would have ever thought that brotherhood was not even as thick as water. Maybe 1 hour into the party I was soaking wet with other people's beer that they had tossed on me when I turned offers of alcohol down. I was called names I could never type, people taunted me against the brick wall & even some challenged me to have my a** kicked if I wanted a go. Because I was drinking water. Because I smiled & said no thanks when offered beer. Brotherhood?
By the end of the semester I had no friends & didn't fit in to any Christian scene around the campus because new people were freshman & those who were 21 had formed & closed off their groups years ago.
But now as I live isolated in a world half-way around the globe, I marvel at God's goodness in my life. Over the years He has filled my life with so many, many wonderful, godly friends. All ages, all personalities, all sharing so much love with me. I am so grateful, so full of joy to be able to think of all those who I love & who love me, scattered from South Carolina to California, from Africa to Japan.
And when you all have the same Father & share the same blood that has been washed over you, that is true brotherhood.
At the beginning of the Fall, upon telling my fraternity brothers what God had done, it was only met with discomfort, not any type of hostility. I remember even 2 guys laughing it off & saying they gave me 2 weeks before I was drunk again. This was in part due to several short-lived religious experiences by other guys in the house who had lost a girlfriend or something like that, but never made it more than a couple weeks without falling back into the free river of booze & drugs that were readily available.
So I remember feeling only a little apprehension when deciding to go to the first house party of the fall after the first home game of the season. The phone wasn't ringing as much at my apartment, but they just needed to see the love of Christ in action. Afterall, these were my "brothers" as we had pleged.
But an amazing thing happened. Even though I had just turned 21, I felt in my conscience I should not drink. I had seen how quickly others had fallen, & I can never remember having just 1 beer or drinking for the taste of it. I chose water instead. Who would have ever thought that brotherhood was not even as thick as water. Maybe 1 hour into the party I was soaking wet with other people's beer that they had tossed on me when I turned offers of alcohol down. I was called names I could never type, people taunted me against the brick wall & even some challenged me to have my a** kicked if I wanted a go. Because I was drinking water. Because I smiled & said no thanks when offered beer. Brotherhood?
By the end of the semester I had no friends & didn't fit in to any Christian scene around the campus because new people were freshman & those who were 21 had formed & closed off their groups years ago.
But now as I live isolated in a world half-way around the globe, I marvel at God's goodness in my life. Over the years He has filled my life with so many, many wonderful, godly friends. All ages, all personalities, all sharing so much love with me. I am so grateful, so full of joy to be able to think of all those who I love & who love me, scattered from South Carolina to California, from Africa to Japan.
And when you all have the same Father & share the same blood that has been washed over you, that is true brotherhood.
