Devotionals

IF FOOTBALL WERE A CHRISTIAN SPORT. By Henry Jaegers

by Henry Jaegers
11/27/17
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IF FOOTBALL WERE A CHRISTIAN SPORT.

By Henry Jaegers

Can you imagine what that would be like? Every player would be a gentleman. There would be no more pushing, shoving, hitting, tackling or fighting. Wouldn’t that be interesting? There would be no need for referees for the conduct of these men would be so outstanding. You wouldn’t even need to have rules because everyone would willingly play by them. With no blocking or tackling all the quarterback had to do was throw the ball to an open player and he would gracefully race toward the goal line without any obstructions. The game would go like that for two or three hours and it would end up almost in a tie with high-scoring. Then think of the benefit it would be to the owners because they wouldn’t have to pay the high salaries for these players and upkeep of the stadium would be so low because there would be no one there to watch the game. You wouldn’t have to worry about television rights as no one would want to televise that kind of game.

Having said this, I realize the whole idea of a Christian football game is somewhat of a fantasy and probably not even interesting. But there is something about football that impresses me, and as I explained it to everyone I meet, that the Christian life is somewhat like a football game. Not like the one we previously mentioned. There are rules in the game that must be observed. There are referees to maintain order in the game. The football players are men just like you and I and because there is the desire to win, sometimes it means that you must win at any cost. That is not Christian. But that analogy I would like to make is this. In the Christian life is like playing the game. There are rules and regulations and laws and others to keep us from acting selfishly. Sometimes a foul is committed and the whistle blows. Now that’s just like the Christian life: we enter the game of life, but sometimes we are guilty of crossing over the line for selfish reasons, and the whistle blows. The whistle is like the Holy Spirit that produces guilt when we have violated the game of life. Like the real football game. The whistle blows, the penalty is assessed, and the game goes on, just like nothing happened before. And as we journey through this life, sometimes the whistleblowers to remind us that we are not walking in the light of God and like the referee blows the whistle, we go to God and confess and take care of the problem, we experience forgiveness and the game continues as though nothing has taken place.

May we never forget the things we can learn from games in the world that apply to the Christian and the game of life. May this be a blessing to each of us.