Untouchable?
Brian R. Kenyon

The summer after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, a group of us who attended Orange Street's VBS went out to eat at the Outback Steakhouse in Lakeland. We were on the waiting list for a large table in the middle section. Finally, the party who occupied the table the hostess said would be ours left. The bus boys cleared the table, and we thought we would be seated. However, another large party came through the back door and sat at the table. There were large muscular men at each corner of the section. One of the sisters in our group got suspicious when one of these muscular men followed a man from the party to the bathroom. The thought crossed her mind that maybe they were gay. I began to look closely at the middle section of the restaurant. Lo and behold, among them I saw none other than Coaches Jon Gruden and Monte Kiffin. It turns out that the large muscular men at each corner of the section were bodyguards. Our group agreed to be broken up among three tables, but there we were, in the midst of the then Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneer brain trust!

What followed was very interesting to watch. Word soon spread throughout the restaurant of who was seated in the middle section. People wanted autographs, but the bodyguards made sure no one got near the coaches. Parents would send their cute little children with pen in hand, but no, the bodyguards turned them away. Young attractive women tried their luck, but no, the bodyguards turned them back. Some even produced "Bucs 48-Raiders 21" t-shirts, but you guessed it-no autographs! In all fairness to public relations, though, the coach did agree to have his picture taken with the Outback staff as he was leaving, but for most of that night, Coach Gruden and his entourage were untouchable!

As I reflected upon that incident, I thought about one of the tremendous blessings about our God. Paul preached to the Athenians that God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:26-27). Imagine that! The God who spoke this world into existence (Heb. 11:3) is not too high and mighty to be concerned about us! The Almighty God is within reach of every one of us! Spiritually, God is not untouchable! As popular and as legendary as Coach Gruden was at that time, he had (and has) nothing over God, yet the coach was, for the most part, unapproachable. God not only wants us to approach Him, but He has also made the way possible-through Jesus Christ, the Lord (Jn. 14:6; Heb. 10:19-22). Have we approached God to receive the blessings He offers?