In case you have somehow missed the news, the English cyclist Bradley Wiggins has won the Tour de France for the first time. He is also the first Englishman to win the race in its history. As the BBC Sports website puts it, ‘In three demanding weeks, he toiled over the Alps and the Pyrenees to complete the mammoth 20-stage, 2,173-mile race which was in its 99th edition’. Wiggins has made history. Some suggest that this tremendous achievement ranks him alongside some of the other great British sportsmen and women, possibly in the top ten of recent years. Congratulations to him for his remarkable victory.
However, one feature that is true of all greats within the sporting world, and in most other walks of life, is that it is only a matter of time before they are forgotten. Their achievements only remembered by the few, or, worse still, only by the enthusiastic quiz buff! We speak of our “fifteen seconds of fame” before we disappear from view and our greatest achievements are lost in the mists of time.
This is what made me think of one person whose impact upon life is still as remarkable today as it was 2000 years ago when He lived. That person is Jesus Christ! For many people within the world He reset the calendar, some years classified as BC (before Christ), and some AD (Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord). That is just one way in which He changed people’s life forever. Yes, there are many revered leaders across the world of religion but no one else rose from among the dead and is alive today in heaven itself. His birth is celebrated at Christmas. His death is remembered at Easter time. The place where He lived remains in the spotlight of world news today, just as much as it was then. Ethnic cleansing, pogroms, purges, and other forms of cruelty and persecution over the centuries have failed to erase His name and His followers from history. Isn’t that remarkable? We believe it is! Jesus Christ changed history, but, more importantly, Jesus Christ can change your life forever. He can free you from the grip of sin and give you real hope of heaven. Will you accept Him as your Saviour and Lord?
