In the early 1970s, Foots Fowler could be seen walking up and down the Jacksboro Highway in Azle, Texas. You could often see him striding along on that stretch of Highway 199 between Lake Worth and Azle. His nickname came from the enormous size of his feet. I was just a young child and didn’t know a lot about him. But, apparently he had some mental health challenges. It was back in the day when picking up hitchhikers was relatively safe, and he often had good-natured people stop to pick him up and transport him to his destination.
Lotteries weren’t legal back then in Texas, but let’s pretend for a moment that they were. Imagine for a moment if Foots Fowler had scraped his change together and bought a winning lottery ticket for $10 million. There would have been much media attention and speculation on how this would change his life for the better. Television cameras and newspaper reporters would have inundated him for interviews.
Now imagine two weeks later, you are driving down the Jacksboro Highway and to your amazement you see Foots Fowler striding down the shoulder of the road. He is still wearing a torn jacket and well-worn shoes. You are amazed as you remember the news coverage of his winning the multi-million dollar lottery. This man is clearly living below his privilege now that he is a millionaire.
As born-again Christians, we often live below our privilege. Many people still think of life in Christ as a performance-based equation. If you ever hear yourself saying, “I’ll go to hell for this” after doing something self-centered, then you don’t understand the concept of being adopted into the family of God. No one who is born again shall ever face an eternity of hell because they are now part of the family of God.
I have heard people say, “God doesn’t love me.” This is self-defeating talk. God is deeply in love with you wherever you are in life. Scripture is vividly plain regarding the love that God has for you. You may not feel His love and you may not believe you deserve His love. But, the fact of the matter is God loves you just as you are. But someone has said, “He loves you too much to want you to stay the way you are.”
Some of my friends probably get tired of hearing about Psalms 112. But this particular psalm is so profound in listing the benefits that will characterize the Christian’s walk with God. Within that chapter of 10 brief verses there are promises regarding your children, your finances and your enemies. I challenge you to get a 3 x 5 card and write these 10 verses on that card. Begin to confess the truths of those verses. Put that card where you will see it often. A good place may be by the bathroom mirror where you shave and put on your makeup.
We have all played the game of guessing what you might do if you had a million dollars…or five…or 10. But, how often have you rehearsed the riches you already have in Jesus Christ? How many times have you stopped and thanked God for promises you have found in Scripture? Today would be a great day for you to take those 10 verses in Psalms 112 and convincing yourself that if you are following verse 1, the rest of the nine verses are yours to claim. Foots Fowler never won $10 million to my knowledge. But, if he ever accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, he received an inheritance that makes $10 million look like chump change.