I was watching the end of the UNC-ECU football game last night. The score was tied with 2 seconds to play. ECU had a chance to kick a game-winning 37 yard field goal. Their kicker came out on the field, and you had to feel for this kid. He had already missed three field goals on the night from shorter distances. At least two of them were misses late in the game that would have already had his team in the lead. On the last miss, he came off the field with his head down. All his teammates and coaches were doing everything they could to encourage this young man. Before he walked out on the field for this last kick, his coach pulled him over and talked to him face to face. His coach was smiling.
The teams lined up. The snap. The hold. The kick.
It was good.
The young kicker whose head had been hanging down in embarassment and shame now was mobbed by his teammates as the hero.
Scripture says that when even one is saved, the angels in heaven celebrate.
I think, in watching that kicker, I saw a picture of what redemption looks like.
