I love collecting sermon illustrations, as you have noticed reading this blog. My all time favorite is a true story told by heavyweight boxing champ Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay. In his own words:

“When I was a kid in Louisville, my parents gave me a brand-new bicycle. Proud and happy, I parked it outside a gym one day. Then somebody stole it, and it just about broke my heart. Someone told me there was a policeman in the basement, and when I found him, I told him that I’d find the guy who’d stolen my bike and beat him up. When he discovered that I didn’t know how to fight, he offered to teach me. That’s how I got into boxing. To this day I never found the thief. But every time I got into the ring, I looked across at the other fighter and told myself, “Hey, that’s the guy who stole my bicycle!”

Getting good and mad can be a real motivator. Popeye used to get pushed around by Brutus until he finally announced, “That’s all I can stand. I can’t stands no more!” When pushed to the brink he ate his spinach and took action.

In our spiritual development, there must be a time when we say, “That’s all I can stand. I can’t stands no more,” and get mad enough to take action to change the situation. What are you waiting for? Get good and mad and do something about it.

Tags: anger, bicycle, fights, Muhammed Ali, Popeye, stealing