You know it’s Super Bowl week when all the ads abound with sales on soft drinks, chips, and frozen pizza. Even those who don’t enjoy football, get into the football spirit of things. We’re more college football fans at our house (Go, Hokies!), but nevertheless will watch and eat our way through Super Bowl Sunday.
I’ve always thought it interesting to watch men while they watch football. My otherwise calm and logical husband and boys get animated and excited as they cheer, groan, and sweat their way through four quarters of strategy, intensity, and revelry.
Recognizing that my children often accuse me of “turning everything in everyday life into a spiritual application,” it does seem that football offers lots of lessons for life, in general, and living for Christ, specifically.
Indulge and humor me now, as I present “Laura’s Top Ten Plays” for both on and off the field. I will endeavor to present one each day this week, which means a few will be posted post-game Sunday.
1. Do your job.
Two different passages of scripture, seemingly unrelated, have come to mind, as I ponder the importance of not just doing a job, but making sure I’m doing my job:
“Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command.”
Leviticus 10:1
“In the spring at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.”
II Samuel 11:1
Nadab and Abihu and also David were all placed in positions of leadership by God. There are responsibilities that come with leadership. All three let God down – all three failed to do their job.
The sin of Nadab and Abihu was one of commission – they burned “unauthorized fire.” They did a job, but it wasn’t a job God had for them to do. David’s sin, on the other hand, was one of omission. (It would lead later to serious sins of commission like adultery and murder, but that’s for another lesson and another day.) His idleness –hanging out in the palace and sending someone else to do his job – was the initial sin.
Looking at Nadab and Abihu and David leads me to ask myself, “What is my job?” Am I doing it well? Am I overstepping and not waiting for God? Am I “eating the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:27) and failing to do what I should be doing? Perhaps we all need to hold one another accountable to do a job and to make sure that it is our job we are doing.
Next to Virginia Tech, our second favorite team is, of course, the Arkansas Razorbacks. During this year’s Sugar Bowl game, a critical play came when the quarterback threw a pass at what looked like (at least from our front row seats in front of the television) right into the arms of a receiver.
Maybe he was caught off guard, not ready, looking the other direction. Whatever the excuse, he dropped the ball. And he dropped it in what would be labeled a key play – the kind of play that had the potential to change the outcome of the entire game. A successful completion there could have/should have/would have kept the Razorback momentum going, led to a touchdown on that series, and tipped the game in Arkansas’ favor. A collective groan was heard across the Natural State emanating from Razorback homes everywhere. We wanted to rewind the tape and see him catch that ball!
Watching with friends, I groaned with everyone else and then immediately felt guilty for groaning. “I feel bad for him,” I said. “I’m sure he’s kicking himself for not catching that ball.” My friend replied, “But it’s his job to catch the ball.”
She wasn’t harsh, mean-spirited, or angry. She was simply speaking the truth. It was his job to catch the ball. The quarterback, the blockers, all the other players on the field did their jobs. But if just one guy fails to also do his, the entire team fails to complete their corporate assignment.
All of us, every single player on the team –or, in the marriage, the family, the church, the ministry, or wherever God has placed us – must be faithful and focused, prepared and proactive, engaged and equipped, intending and intentional about doing our job. The rest of the team is counting on us.
Join me today in asking God, “What is my job?”
Copyright 2011 Laura Macfarlan
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