Does it break your heart?

I'm sort of a news junkie and I try to keep up with issues that go on all over the world. Having been to Sudan and Turkey, I feel like I have a sort of vested interest in those countries and am fascinated when those regions appear in the news. I get a little tired of all of the negativity that I read and hear, especially from the local news outlets. There also seems to be so much competition among news outlets that it's almost like they choose to sensationalize some stories just to get viewers or readers. But then a story comes along that really strikes me in the gut, one that I can't turn the page on or click off. That story came out this week.

Most of you have probably heard more than enough about the scandal that is going on with the men's lacrosse team at Duke University. There has been so much discussion on this story and every news outlet that I have come across has reported on it. The details surrounding the alleged crime are sickening, and it leaves me scratching my head as to how men and women can make some of the decisions that they do in our society today. Even if the lacrosse players are innocent of the charges against them, the fact that they pooled their money together to bring in an exotic dancer breaks my heart for their spiritual condition. There were times in college when I knew these kinds of things were going on around me, and there were times when my heart was hardened in a way that it didn't really bother me like it does now. While I can choose to lament the choices that I made when I was younger, I instead choose to focus on just how far God has brought me from my past through the grace and forgiveness of Jesus.

As I type these words, I wonder what is going through the minds of these college-aged lacrosse players. Regardless of the outcome of this situation and the impending legal battle, none of these guys will come out unscathed. My prayer is that God will grab hold of their hearts and they will see that He can forgive and restore them through Jesus Christ.