The Tunnel Walk
I can feel it in the air, the angle of the sun... and I can hear it in the commercials on the radio. It's football season. I like football season, but not necessarily because I like football. I like that everybody makes room in their schedule to stop and enjoy each others company once a week, or every couple weeks. (Although I suppose this could be interpreted as a sad thing if we can only make room for each other during footbal season.) :) But that's beside the point. I just like the enviornment Game Day creates. Dad sits on the couch and yells, "Go go go!" Sometimes mom makes food, sometimes my brother and sister-in-law come over, and I sit and watch everyone... and eat the food.
My favorite part of Nebraska football... doesn't really have anything to do with football. I absolutely love... "The Tunnel Walk" song. For some reason, it gets me psyched. I've never even been to a Husker game to experience the tunnel walk. But every time I hear it, for some reason, it almost gives me goose bumps. I'm working at the station this first game day, babysitting the board to make sure all the commercials behave like they're supposed to. They were making a big deal of this new tunnel walk thing they've created... how it's been made over so it now includes some statues of previous Nebraska players (I think) and how they now have two soldiers guarding the new gates. As I listened to them get all excited to experience this new tunnel walk for the first game of the season, I was excited too and I wasn't even there. (Now I know some of you are going to laugh at me... but that's okay.) :) This booming voice started talking, and soon I heard the first few strains of that famous song. (If you go to this link, http://www.huskerbay.com/ you can listen to it. Theres a box in the upper right hand corner that says something about Play some background music, and then you can select the Tunnel Walk under that.) Okay now you think I'm really weird... but really you should try it... just for fun. Anyway... when I heard it... I actually got a little misty. Weird... I know. The fans were excited then, but they absolutely exploded when the team came running through the gates and onto the field. "Geez..." I thought, "What are we so excited about? Here I am tearing up.... it's a football game for crying out loud!" But what if...
I wonder if there is a tunnel walk in heaven? The Bible says the angels have a party every time someone takes God up on His offer and begins a relationship with Him through Christ. What will it be like when we make it home? Will they welcome us with a tunnel walk of their own? I wonder if Paul had a song playing in his head when he wrote these words:
"One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
The people breaking through those gates will be a little different than the ones dressed in red we see on game day. It will be people who had nothing going for them... except Jesus. Here's a thought... what will happen to all those awards we received, all the praise we thought was so important, and the things we strain so hard for here? What about my hard work to get those A's... or to receive praise from that person? These verses are a daily wake-up call for me:
The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.
Philippians 3:7-9 The Message
Ouch. What am I working for? Which tunnel walk am I striving for? The one here on earth, or the one in heaven? No matter what I do, I believe that Christ paid my price and because I've trusted in that alone, I'm going to make it to heaven. But will I be dissapointed when I walk through those gates about those times that I chose to go after my interest instead of God's? There won't be any middle ground in heaven. Either what I did is going to last, or it's going to burn. If I did it with the right motives, to honor God, it's going to last. If it was done for a pat on the back... that's all I'm going to get out of it.
So which "tunnel walk" am I going to listen for today? How about this one:
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ," Phil. 3:20.
I don't know about you, but the tunnel walk song represents a whole lot more to me than football now.
I can feel it in the air, the angle of the sun... and I can hear it in the commercials on the radio. It's football season. I like football season, but not necessarily because I like football. I like that everybody makes room in their schedule to stop and enjoy each others company once a week, or every couple weeks. (Although I suppose this could be interpreted as a sad thing if we can only make room for each other during footbal season.) :) But that's beside the point. I just like the enviornment Game Day creates. Dad sits on the couch and yells, "Go go go!" Sometimes mom makes food, sometimes my brother and sister-in-law come over, and I sit and watch everyone... and eat the food.
My favorite part of Nebraska football... doesn't really have anything to do with football. I absolutely love... "The Tunnel Walk" song. For some reason, it gets me psyched. I've never even been to a Husker game to experience the tunnel walk. But every time I hear it, for some reason, it almost gives me goose bumps. I'm working at the station this first game day, babysitting the board to make sure all the commercials behave like they're supposed to. They were making a big deal of this new tunnel walk thing they've created... how it's been made over so it now includes some statues of previous Nebraska players (I think) and how they now have two soldiers guarding the new gates. As I listened to them get all excited to experience this new tunnel walk for the first game of the season, I was excited too and I wasn't even there. (Now I know some of you are going to laugh at me... but that's okay.) :) This booming voice started talking, and soon I heard the first few strains of that famous song. (If you go to this link, http://www.huskerbay.com/ you can listen to it. Theres a box in the upper right hand corner that says something about Play some background music, and then you can select the Tunnel Walk under that.) Okay now you think I'm really weird... but really you should try it... just for fun. Anyway... when I heard it... I actually got a little misty. Weird... I know. The fans were excited then, but they absolutely exploded when the team came running through the gates and onto the field. "Geez..." I thought, "What are we so excited about? Here I am tearing up.... it's a football game for crying out loud!" But what if...
I wonder if there is a tunnel walk in heaven? The Bible says the angels have a party every time someone takes God up on His offer and begins a relationship with Him through Christ. What will it be like when we make it home? Will they welcome us with a tunnel walk of their own? I wonder if Paul had a song playing in his head when he wrote these words:
"One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
The people breaking through those gates will be a little different than the ones dressed in red we see on game day. It will be people who had nothing going for them... except Jesus. Here's a thought... what will happen to all those awards we received, all the praise we thought was so important, and the things we strain so hard for here? What about my hard work to get those A's... or to receive praise from that person? These verses are a daily wake-up call for me:
The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.
Philippians 3:7-9 The Message
Ouch. What am I working for? Which tunnel walk am I striving for? The one here on earth, or the one in heaven? No matter what I do, I believe that Christ paid my price and because I've trusted in that alone, I'm going to make it to heaven. But will I be dissapointed when I walk through those gates about those times that I chose to go after my interest instead of God's? There won't be any middle ground in heaven. Either what I did is going to last, or it's going to burn. If I did it with the right motives, to honor God, it's going to last. If it was done for a pat on the back... that's all I'm going to get out of it.
So which "tunnel walk" am I going to listen for today? How about this one:
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ," Phil. 3:20.
I don't know about you, but the tunnel walk song represents a whole lot more to me than football now.
posted by Kara Bird | 2:48 PM
4 Comments:
Hello Kara bird,
thank you for your very kind visit to my blog.....yes the pansy teapot cover is a gem isn't it. I am so pleased to be the new owner and will treasure the work and the piece forever.
Your teaparties sound a great idear, we should all make a moment in time to pray AND have a teaparty.
your blog is very nice, you write lovely I will be back to see you again and look forward to seeing you at my blog again too.
have a lovely day!
Very interesting thoughts. I love that verse that Paul writes about forgetting the old stuff and looking forward. Your entry got me very excited today on a day when I'm feeling run down. Thanks, girl! I'm looking forward very much to my future tunnel walk! Do you think the trumpets and lines of angels and everything? Oh, that's just so exciting!
You have some very interesting thoughts, Kara. I like the idea that the heavenly tunnel walk will "be people who had nothing going for them... except Jesus." We are special because of Him. Why do I never get tired of hearing that?
The other comment that struck me was, "Either what I did is going to last, or it's going to burn." There's a good measuring stick for how to spend our time.
wow i like reading ur blogs and look at ur pic ilke the bible verse it help alot
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