The Painter
One of the most iconic parts of Tiger Stadium is the Eye of the Tiger symbol that is painted on the center of the field. It’s a symbol of the blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice that the athletes make for the sake of success. As a Golden Girl at LSU, I danced around the Eye of the Tiger for 3 years! When I started working for LSU Athletics and on into my sideline reporting days, I was still able to view the iconic symbol while standing on the field. I get chills thinking about some of my experiences in Tiger Stadium and how fortunate I have been to have a viewpoint most never get to see.
During a typical game week, the Eye is carefully hand painted a few days before the game. So much work goes into painting that symbol and yet, within minutes of play, it’s trampled on and destroyed. The next week the field crew comes out, fills in the holes, and repaints the Eye. It’s the same process every week. Let’s pretend God oversees the painting of the Eye. He carefully takes the blood of Christ and paints over our imperfections, and within minutes we trample and destroy it with sin. Thank goodness God never runs out of paint. He continues this process over and over again because the blood of Christ is meant to cover the death of sin.
Sometimes It’s hard to comprehend the amount of love God has for us. It’s even harder for us to not get selfish in thinking that the blood of Christ was poured out just for you and I. Yes, even those who have hurt us deeply get God’s greatest gift. Today, we are going to take a look at the Last Supper.
Read Matthew 26:20-31
I am sure you have read this story a few times. The first thing he does is say, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” (Verse 20). Jesus is having his last supper on Earth sitting at the table with the man that betrayed him in exchange for 30 silver coins… the price of a slave. Yet, in verse 27 this is what happens. “Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying “Drink from it, all of you.” Jesus is offering communion with everyone, even Judas. He didn’t say all of you can receive forgiveness except the one who is going to betray me. Jesus had every right to deny Judas that opportunity of communion, yet he offered everyone the blood of the new covenant for the forgiveness of sins. As Christians, once we accept Christ, we are to have a desire to walk in a Christ-like manner. That includes passing the cup around the table so that your enemies can receive forgiveness as well.
Forgiveness is hard. God doesn’t ever expect us to take the burden of forgiving others on our own. Where we struggle to forgive, God has already forgiven through Christ’s sacrifice. You may feel like you have been painting that logo in the center of the field over and over again, yet it continues to get stomped on and destroyed. This is when you allow God to be the painter of the field. Our lives are not our fields to paint. He is the only one that has enough paint to cover their sin. I want you to know that forgiveness doesn’t all depend on you. Yes, we need to chase after a heart like Christ… that sat at the Last Supper offering a cup to his betrayer. But without Christ, forgiveness would be a foreign concept to us. We must lean on Jesus to help us paint over the areas of hurt and pain.
I want to end with a few questions for you think about.
Do you struggle with forgiveness? Have you been trying to do it by yourself all this time, not depending on Jesus to help you?
If your answer is yes, reach out to me. I have some resources that could help you.
