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Wednesday, August 20, 2008 CW Weekly Devotional - "#9" By laneglaze @ 11:56 AM :: 559 Views :: 0 Comments :: :: Weekly Devotional   For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD…” Jeremiah 29:11-14a, NIV For several weeks now the number 9 has been at the forefront of my mind. Those who have known me for years know that this is my favorite number, the number that my younger brother and I both wore during our playing days. To this day, I still hear “Niner” on the other end of the phone line after I pick it up. Instantly, I know that I’m hearing from a former teammate or coach. But during these last few weeks, the number 9 has carried with it not memories of the past but visions of the future. Why? For the first time in seventeen years and for only the seventh time in school history, the Clemson Tiger football team is ranked in the AP top ten as…#9. Like our archrival South Carolina, Clemson could very well be called Charles Dickens University, for every football season in this town is filled with “Great Expectations.”  But this year is different.  In fact, I cannot remember this level of preseason excitement since the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Clemson fielded several of its most successful gridiron teams in history. I can still remember the 1977 – 1981 seasons, in particular, like it was yesterday.  We will all discover in a few weeks just how good this team might be.  As we alll know, polls can't always be trusted! Today marks the first day of classes on Clemson’s campus. Needless to say, it is a day filled with a different set of Great Expectations for all of us as well. There’s the freshman who is excited yet anxious about how well she will be able to adapt to college-level classes. There’s the senior applying to grad schools or making plans to (re)take the MCAT or LSAT. There’s the new young professor, wondering how all of his theoretical training will translate into the practical experience of the classroom. And even after seven years of campus ministry here, I have a few butterflies as I dream about the friends that I will make, the experiences that I will have, and the ways in which I will be challenged, tested and stretched.  Today, we are all looking forward...but what will the future hold? Reflecting on all of these emotions this morning, Jeremiah 29:11 came to mind. After twenty-eight chapters filled with words of doom and gloom, the book of Jeremiah begins to take a turn in chapter 29. Out of the mouth of this fire and brimstone prophet comes words of hope, words of healing, and words of restoration. Through Jeremiah, the LORD reaffirms to the Israelites what kind of God He is. A loving God who seeks their prosperity, not their harm. A future-oriented God who seeks to give them hope, not despair. An attentive God who is always ready to hear their prayers, One who finds them as they earnestly seek and yearn for Him. Simply put, in these last chapters of Jeremiah they are reintroduced to an abundantly loving and gracious God who has Great Expectations for them all...and for us as well. So on this first day of school, what are your dreams? Are you, like the Israelites, in exile? Is your heart filled with excitement about the upcoming “season” in your life?  Whoever you are and wherever you find yourself today, know this: the God who created you has amazing plans for you, far exceeding the fleeting thrill of a top 10 ranking or even a National Championship.  I pray that God will be with you all in the coming weeks as you are challenged, tested and stretched.  May we - who are so often lost - strive to call upon and seek Him daily - so we too might (once again) be found. Hope-fully devoted, lane Rev. C. Lane Glaze Director, Clemson Wesley Foundation Campus Minister, Clemson UMC P.O. Box 1703, Clemson, SC 29633 (864) 654-5547 (o); (864) 207-9135 (m) www.clemsonwesley.com Feel free to forward this email to a friend. The Clemson Wesley Weekly Devotional is a ministry of the Clemson Wesley Foundation, the United Methodist Church’s ministry to students on the campus of Clemson University. The purpose of this email is to look at issues relevant to the life of Clemson students through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you would like your name added to this list, email Rev. Lane Glaze at glaze@clemson.edu.

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