CWE Pre Camp Devos-#8 The Guarantee

Proverbs 3:5-6b

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart,

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge Him

and He WILL…”

“THE GUARANTEE”

In the early fall of 1960, an event occurred which forever changed the landscape of professional sports in America.  On September 9^th, the Denver Broncos faced the Boston Patriots in the inaugural game of the upstart American Football League.  For the next 6 years, though scoffed at and ridiculed by the more established members of the National Football League, the member franchises of the AFL began to gain a foothold in professional football.  This foothold eventually lead to a merger with the NFL and the initiation of the very first Super Bowl played in 1967.  Though market conditions had led the more established NFL to reluctantly agree to the merger, there was smugness, a sense of vast superiority, which pervaded fans and, more importantly, journalists from the NFL cities.  The first two Super Bowls had resulted in blow out victories for the NFL representative teams over the AFL and as Super Bowl III approached there was hardly a soul who felt that the AFL, represented by the New York Jets, stood even the slightest chance of defeating the NFL representative, the powerful Baltimore Colts led by the iconic quarterback, Johnny Unitas. 

In the week leading up to the game, all of the focus was on the Colts with the discussion being centered around the theme of whether or not this edition of the Baltimore Colts was, in fact, the greatest professional team of all time.  Not only was little attention given to the lowly New York Jets, but fans had even begun to heckle the Jets as they went about their preparation for the game.  It was against this back drop that the New York Jets quarterback, Joe Namath, in response to a heckler during the middle of a press conference, shot back saying, “We WILL beat the Colts, I guarantee it!!!”  Well, as you can imagine, this added a little spice to the days leading up to the big game.  Writers, announcers, and analysts all decried the outburst by Namath as foolish.  Most thought that the Colts, needing no further motivation, had now been stirred up enough that the game would be a massacre and Namath would be lucky to survive the first series of downs uninjured. 

 The word “will” is a very powerful term.  It connotes certainty, power, finality, and dependability.  For example, when a person contemplates his or her death, they often create a document called a “Will.”  In this document they guarantee their personal wishes so that nothing is left to chance.  The term “will” is much different than its counterpart “shall.”  Will is a term of certainty, dependability, and trustworthiness, while shall is a term of intention.  In today’s scripture we see that Solomon tells us that God is dependable, trustworthy, bankable, capable, and powerful.  Solomon tells us that when we choose to give God our lives He will do what He says He will do.  In my mind this is the crux of this entire passage of scripture: our knowledge of the complete power and dependability of God.  Solomon is saying that when we have confidence in God, HE will never fail us.  When we place our lives in the hands of God, even when we don’t understand the whys and wherefores of God, He is always consistent, always faithful, always trustworthy. 

This summer and for the rest of your life you will experience peaks and valleys in your fellowship with God, your obedience to God, and your own ability to experience God.  But the one thing you will never have to worry about is God’s consistency or trustworthiness.  HE is…HE WILL.  There will be times this summer and times in your life when you absolutely don’t understand “why,” but God does.  HE WILL.  The Bible is full of covenants between God and His people, the Adamic covenant, the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Palestinian covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the New Covenant.  Some of these are conditional, some unconditional, but all of them are reliable.  All of them are trustworthy. All of them speak to the essence of our faith and this passage.  IF and WHEN we respond to God in faith and trust Him with our lives, HE WILL.  Take it to the bank today, this summer, and throughout your life.  God WILL.  He is absolutely capable and absolutely dependable…end of story.

As for Joe Namath (Broadway Joe as he came to be known), his New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts 16-7, earning the first ever victory for the old AFL and silencing the critics forever.  He promised and he delivered.  That was one football game.  Joe Namath never got back to the Super Bowl and wound up his career with far more interceptions than touchdowns.  Like all of us, Joe Namath can never be fully dependable.  GOD IS DEPENDABLE…ALWAYS…HE IS THE ONE GUARANTEE YOU CAN ALWAYS TRUST…HE…WILL.