Michael Vick faced the world today, said he was sorry, and seemed believable. His apology sounded genuinely humble and refreshingly nonevasive, with none of the grudging subjunctives usually employed by athletes in trouble. Mr. Vick apologized to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, his teammates and "all the young kids out there," whom he asked to "use me as an example to use better judgment and make better decisions." He took full responsibility for his actions, called dogfighting "a terrible thing," and said "I need to grow up."
It'll take a lot more than one day of contrition to return Mr. Vick to the NFL, but the Falcons QB has probably already done more in that regard than many thought he would manage.
"I will redeem myself," he said. "I have to."
I'm sure there is a progression we move through when we've committed a gross sin and we've been found out. Michael Vick is somewhere in that process. Yesterday he expressed remorse and repentance, which are key steps in that process. As is the case for all of us, the sincerity of his words are known only to he and the Lord. I hope that Michael comes to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus and begins to walk with Him in a totally new life. But one thing we can be sure of: Michael needs to learn the meaning of redemption and the limits of our fragile abilities. Focusing on his final words above, he needs to learn that one thing we cannot do is "redeem ourselves". The idea that "we got ourselves into this mess and we'll get ourselves out" just isn't accurate. It's because we're unable to walk a straight line that we need One who is able to deliver us from our sin. Michael was one of the most elusive players to tackle in football but he was unable to avoid being tackled by sin. In a sense he tackled himself. Aren't you glad that Jesus looked down the corridor of time and saw the need each of us had to be redeemed and then faithfully gave up His life and demonstrated resurrection power to purchase our freedom! The truth is that we all tend to tackle ourselves.
Romans 5:6-8 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
blessings,
Rob Smith
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