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If I were Jesus and I was playing against a guy who tried to cheap-shot me like that …

I’d … I’d …

Beat the Holy Jesus out of Him?

YEAHHHH!

No, Jesus would just use his super-powers and zap the guy into the next universe.

Nah, that sounds more like a super-hero movie.

I know! Jesus would say … “Hit me again! Hit me again!”

Then He’d give the guy a BIG hug!

Ahhhh … Jesus doesn’t belong in football.

I think … I think …

I don’t know WHAT I think!

That’s because you don’t know Jesus.

Okay, Coach, if you know Jesus so well, how do you think He would play the game?

I take my cue from someone who had firsthand knowledge of Jesus.

In the Bible, the Apostle Paul often made reference to the sports around him when he talked about following Jesus.

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:14).

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Cor. 9:24-27).

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:1).

Paul wasn’t interest in turning sports into a false God. He was just showing there is a parallel between playing sports and following Christ. Both require enthusiastic devotion.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Col. 3:23).

It’s better to DO your best rather than BE the best. You can demonstrate your love for Christ by playing the game according to the rules and doing so with everything you’ve got.

Love Christ? I don’t even know who Christ is!

Well, let me introduce you. Listen to what the Bible says …

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

God loves you more than you can imagine. But your sins stand in the way of receiving that love.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

But the good news is Jesus paid the penalty for our sins with His death on the cross and offers us eternal life by rising from the grave.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).

All we need to do is receive Him!

“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

Dear God, thank you for loving me and sending your son Jesus to die on the cross for me and then rising from the grave to give me eternal life. I now turn from my sin and place my trust in Jesus. Thank you for saving me for all eternity, Amen.

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