Flags are flying. Yards signs are out. There is a buzz in the air. Everyone is talking about it. “Did you see the game? Wasn’t it incredible?” FootBaal season has begun. Life once again has something that makes it worth living for many (most?) men and boys. Some churches don’t even have Sunday night services anymore because the men don’t come during football season and certainly not on Super Bowl Sunday.
Is it the excitement in watching men trying to crush each other, or perhaps the sensuously clothed cheerleaders wiggling their bodies? Or maybe it is the dazzling beer commercials? (There is a reason why breweries spend millions of dollars a year advertising their products – it works!) Or maybe men grew up watching football for hours on end with their dads, and now that is equated with real manhood. Whatever it is, men are, dare I say, addicted to something that steals countless hours from God’s kingdom. (Jesus owns us.)
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
Do Christian men have nothing that would be pleasing to the Lord that is a better use of their time? The world gives you thrills and excitement, but things of the Lord yield eternal fruit and joy that comes with a very different kind of excitement. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (1 John 5:21).
“I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt have none other gods before me” (Deuteronomy 5:6-7).
If you aren’t convinced, another question. Would you invite Jesus to sit down with you and watch a game? I hope each would say, “NO, I COULDN’T DO THAT.” However, if He did sit with you, I believe the Lord would weep.
Examine the fruit from footBaal. Does it draw you closer to your Lord and the fruit of the Spirit. Or might it actually be feeding your flesh? Is it building up your family in the Lord or casting stumbling blocks for your children? Read Matthew 18:6 carefully.
P.S. If footBaal is a passion of yours, and you still cling to it and think it would be good for me to embrace as well, please write and convince me.