September 2026

September is one of my favorite months: College Football has returned!! As we all know, I’m a Dawg fan, and I hope we have another great year. I’m grateful to be the two-time reigning SEC champs, but what I really want is that Natty. Let’s be honest, that’s why the big boys play the game, to win it all.

As I think about winning it all my mind goes to what Jesus said in Mark 8:36NASB:  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? The reason why “winning it all” can be a tricky proposition is because we don’t always agree on what “winning it all” actually means. What does “winning it all” mean when it comes to our lives? I literally just read a news article about a famous actress who died today, at 36, from cardiac arrest, reportedly from a drug overdose. I would imagine that everyone who did not know her personally would have said yesterday that she was winning at life: rich, famous, young, a bright future ahead for her. My assumption is that those who knew her best probably detected some warning signs that she could potentially be headed for danger. However, today most people would not share the same optimism about her victorious status in life. Her death is truly tragic and a sad reminder that everything that glitters is not always gold.

We must correctly define “winning it all” in order to determine if we are indeed winning. The Lord God Almighty has told us what winning is in His Word. Winning is living a holy life. In Leviticus 19:2HCSB God told Moses to tell the entire Israelite community, “Be holy because I, Yahweh your God, am holy.”  Peter referred to this same verse in his first epistle when he said, “But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16HCSB). One could search long and hard in vain to find more straight forward words from God in terms of how He wants us to live our lives. God literally tells us to live holy lives. That’s it! Living how God wants us to live is the definition of winning. So, what does living a holy life look like?

Our staff is reading and discussing a systematic theology written by Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley. In our most recent staff meeting we were discussing the chapter on God’s holiness. In this chapter the authors quote J.C. Ryle. Ryle’s words on holiness give us an answer to the question, What does living a holy life look like? “Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God ... hating what He hates—loving what He loves—and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.” A holy person will “endeavor to shun every known sin, and to keep every known commandment.” He will “strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ.” J.C. Ryle, Holiness: It’s Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots, 34-38, cited in Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley, Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology, 97. If we want to win it all, we must make a habit of being of one mind with God, hating what He hates, and loving what He loves. We must strive to have victory over sin and obedience to God’s commands. If we persist in doing these simple, yet powerful actions, we will truly win it all when our times come to be with the Lord.

Pastor Clint Miller