In 1992–way before texting, Facebook, and YouTube–as a senior football player for the Brigham Young Cougars, I was given the Crowd Pleaser Award by the Cougar Club (the BYU booster club). The trophy says it’s “To A Male Athlete Whose Performance Consistently Pleased the Crowd.”
In my home, I have a special room called the “Dewey Room.” And in the “Dewey Room,” you’ll see my Crowd Pleaser Award displayed. Inevitably, people ask me, “What’s this trophy for?” Then humbly– I might add (lol)–I share with them how I flew through the air like Thor and totally devastated my opponents to earn this award. Okay... not really. I share with them that I had a great coach and great teammates that put me in positions to make some great plays.
What’s cool about the trophy is that it even has some of my accomplishments engraved into it.
Did you know that you’re a trophy of God’s grace? And that He’s engraved His accomplishments (perfect life, sin defeating death, and eternal life giving resurrection) into you? Marinate on Ephesians 2:4-7,
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
God, being rich in mercy and propelled by His great love, chased us down as we ran from Him and tackled us with His love. His love–as we responded to His grace–made us alive. And then God calls His angels and says, “Look at My trophy of grace.” I wonder what would happen to us if we actually believed that we were “God’s trophies of grace.”
Let’s not wonder, let’s live in this truth by faith, and experience it!
