In honor of football season, I thought I would write a blog utilizing a football analogy. Granted, my love for football has waned since the Bears started off the season 2-4. As a matter of fact, if they continue to play like they did today, and make me endure another heartbreaking loss, I may have to spend the time I used to watch football and take up some other hobby, like the manly pastime of crocheting.

When there is either and kick off or a punt, and that kick or punt lands in the end zone and is not subsequently returned, the referee signals for a touchback. When this happens, the receiving team gets the ball on the 20 yard line. Thus my football analogy regarding the Christian life will begin there.

Indeed, everybody begins life at the same place, the inevitable 20 yard line we call birth. From there it is the 80 yards one has to travel to get to the end zone. The 80 yards represent life, while the end zone represents death. The goal is to travel and get to the end zone successfully. Granted, some do it quicker than others. Nonetheless, the goal is still the same, which is to successfully to the aforementioned destination.

As you progress towards the end zone, there will be some first downs as well as some penalties (setbacks). This is just part of life. There are first downs that you can celebrate like getting married, the birth of a child, or when your child goes off to college and you finally get your house back. Or perhaps the first down is the day your daughter walks down the aisle to marry that guy that you have been praying against the last three years. It is at this time you realize that God doesn’t answer every prayer. lol

As you and I ponder this point we begin to realize that there are many first downs in life. There are the wonderful relationships with family and friends that we all value, and the fun times that we share with them. These are the first downs that God bestows upon us that bring our life meaning and joy.

With the many first downs that we experience, there are also penalties along the road to the end zone. Continuing with my football analogy, penalties represent the setbacks we have in our lives. Indeed, there are many setbacks we all face. We may have lost our parents, a job, or that incredibly painful experience of losing a spouse or child.

Maybe the setback that you have faced is that things didn’t turn out they way you hoped. The American dream somehow passed you by. You don’t have that nice house you thought you would have at this time in your life. Or perhaps the job that you are currently working is much more a drudgery than a delight. To be sure, all of us experience both first downs and penalties in this game called life. It is what we do with them that counts.

However, in order to get first downs and overcome penalties requires that we have a playbook. A playbook is issued to each member of the team and it includes terms, strategies, and plays used by that specific team.

God also has a playbook. This is what we call the Bible. He has diagrammed how we are to score a touchdown. This is precisely why David said that God’s Word “is a lamp to [our] feet and a light for [our] path.” The Bible shows how we can be successful in this game we call life.

The last step before the end zone is what football aficionados call the red zone. The red zone is the last twenty yards of the 80 yard journey before the final destination. It is during this stretch where important decisions are made, decisions that will affect whether we score a touchdown or not. The red zone represents the choices that we have to make. “The words of Eleanor Roosevelt ring true: One's philosophy is not best expressed in words. It is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” What’s more, the foundation upon which our lives are built is based on the daily decisions that we make. The writer of Hebrews wonderfully illustrates the point that I am trying to make.

I Cor. 3:12-14 - Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Furthermore, the choices we make will determine whether we hear from our Lord, “Well done good and faithful servant”, or we inherit what Hebrews speaks of regarding our works being burned up, yet remaining saved. Thus, we go to heaven, but forfeit any reward.

What determines our reward (touchdown) are the daily decisions that we make. Those who continually yield themselves to Jesus and His work will be richly rewarded. Then there are those who are saved, yet are not yielding themselves completely to Jesus, and are determined to remain aloof to the cause of Christ. They, instead, settle for a field goal. Sure, they score (salvation, since they have received Christ) but fall short of what God desires for them to do. We all resolve to abide in Christ, and be about our Father’s business.