Go for the win!!!

Well, it's over. Did your team win? Did you watch the game? Do you even care?

Honestly, I'm not much of a football watcher. I love going to the local high school games, and I enjoy watching Drake University play (and my daughter play trumpet in the marching band), but when it comes to the NFL, I'm pretty clueless. I know that it was the Bears and Colts. (As for who won, as I write this, the game hasn't been played yet.)

While the media focuses on the runs, passes, and scoring of the game, the men in charge of leading their teams to Super Bowl XLI plan to share the most important things in their life, while in the spotlight. Both Head Coach Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears give credit to God for their teams' victories in the conference championships January 21st. Both men are strong believers in Jesus Christ.

Lovie Smith is relatively new at being a head coach and has not had as many public opportunities to share his faith as Coach Dungy has. Smith told Chicago media he believes in Jesus Christ, listens to Christian music when driving his car, and does not smoke, drink or curse. Dungy said, "I'm so happy for Lovie who does things the right way, without cursing and shows things can be done differently." He added, "The Lord set this up in a way that no one would believe it. The Lord tested us a lot this year, but He set this up to get all the glory."

Did you know you were created to glorify God? And you can do it in so many ways! You can do it by working hard for your employer; by giving your very best to your family; by being honest and maintaining integrity even when it might be easier to go the other way. And of course, you can glorify God simply by expressing your praise to Him in worship or by telling someone else about your faith in God as these two coaches have done.

Does God care about football? Yep, He sure does! How do I know? Because He cares about everything that involves people. See, God is all about people. Jesus died for people. He didn't die for football, but He died for people who play, watch, enjoy and care about football......so I know He cares about football. Did God pull for one team over the other? I doubt it. But I'm sure He gave every player the strength to play their best in the game.

And the winning team......does God love them more than the losing team? Did He give them something "extra" over and above the other team? Nope. They just scored more points than the other team, that's all. It happens. No one wins at everything. But the one thing that happened was this: both teams played their best to win the game.

My encouragement to you this week? Give your very best to win the prize. The Apostle Paul said it this way in Philippians 3:13 & 14, "No, dear friends, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."

Press toward the goal, friends! Chances are you'll never play in a Superbowl and win, but you can win this prize! So go for it!!!