With the start of the NFL and college football seasons set to begin very shortly, we will all be focused on the win of the day. And just as there is in a football season, there will be winners and losers every game. But just because a team wins or loses that week there is one thing they all have in common. They get ready to play next week. One win or loss does not define their season but it does dictate what the teams’ practice looks like during the week. It doesn’t matter if you’re one of the chosen (a Cowboy’s fan) or some misguided person cheering for another team (Ok haters, keep with me I’ll lay off the Cowboys talk) we are all in this together.
So whether you’re a football fan or not, you are part of a group that plays for a win. You are a part of the human race and your race started the day you were born. You were not asked if or when you wanted to play the game, you were just set at the starting line and encouraged to get started. Let me ask you the question millions of people ask themselves every day. What is the point of life? or better yet what is the meaning of life? Both great questions and I think there is an answer and I want to take the next several posts to take a look at what we can do to live a life that wins.
First, let’s take a look at what a win is and how we can know if we have it. The win is very important whether you are looking at it personally, in a church, a business, a city, or even a culture. From the viewpoint of the one I believe started this whole thing, a win is understanding that God came down to Earth in the form of a baby boy, lived a life of perfection of choice and then died the death of a thief to answer for the sins of all who had come before us and after. I think a win is living a life acknowledging that Jesus is the son of God and died for your sins and mine and you choose to follow his ways for your life. That is the way to eternal life with God forever in Heaven. That is winning the season and the Lombardi trophy.
What if you were the owner of a team and knew that at the end of the season you would be awarded the Super Bowl trophy but you still needed to play the entire season anyway. That is what it is like for you if you will put your trust in Jesus. You have already won the season but just for fun, you have to play all the games anyway. And just like every NFL team that will play the entire season for the hope of winning the Vince Lombardi trophy we who choose to follow Jesus Christ are playing with the hope of eternity with Christ in Heaven. In 1 Peter 1 it says this “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you,” (TNIV 1 Peter 1:3-4)
So let’s take a look at what I think will help us get through the season with as few bumps, bruises, and concussions as possible. Every football player on the field knows it’s not “if” but “how many” bumps and bruises they will experience. And we, just like football players, will practice to try and get through the season while minimizing the hurts and pain but at the same time playing within the rules as to not get disqualified from the game.
In my last post, I asked for you to look at the stars. To look and see if there was anything different and something to follow. In the next few posts, I want to give you some things (stars if you will) that you can follow to reach the goal and win the game.
Just like a team striving to win the game you need to know who you are and what your role on the team is. I will call this knowing your purpose and your ETHOS. Take and ask yourself this. Where did you come from? There is a power in your past. Your past will include some good things and some bad things. Some of the decisions you have made in your past are good and had good results and other decisions were not so good and have left some noticeable bruises and scars in your life. Getting back to a football team, you don’t ignore the bad plays and just keep calling them. No, you pay attention to what plays worked and which ones didn’t. The teams that remember the good plays, the ones that created success, and get rid of the bad plays, the ones that created the opposite of success, will stand a much better chance of winning the game and moving on to the postseason.
The same is for you and me. I want you to do something, take a good honest look at your own life and even write down the plays in your life. God has instilled in each of us our memories. Memories that are good and bad both. Memories that we love and some we would just as soon forget. Use them, look at them honestly and put them down on paper. Take a piece of paper and make two columns. One column is good or happy memories and the other are bad or sad memories. After you put them down, ask yourself what part you played in them. Did you make decisions that led to a successful play or did it lead to a quarterback sack?
We will talk soon and take a look at what you have and how you can use it to your advantage.
Have a great day and Go Cowboys!!
ETHOS 4 LIFE 