Jesus and the Referee

I love watching sports events.  While I certainly concentrate my viewing on the big three (football, basketball, and baseball), my wife will tell you that I delight in observing almost every competitive sport.  The athleticism that some people possess really amazes me.  And like most people, I have my favorite teams.

One of the things I’ve noticed more and more lately is how quick we sports fans are to blame officials when our preferred team loses a game.  This is rarely true, but I admit I’m guilty of doing this myself!  A big part of this is due to the incredible instant replay we can view on our massive television screens.  We now have multiple camera angles, stunning picture clarity, and announcers and fellow fans to reinforce what we already knew.  If that official hadn’t screwed up that OBVIOUS call, my team would’ve won!

This reminds me that we have an enemy always pointing out our sinful behavior.  The replay evidence is clear and he has the proof.  The bible reminds us in Romans 3:10-12, There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. 

But if you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, he’s there turning the table on the referee.  Jesus calls us safe when we were obviously out at the plate.  While it’s clear that the football hit the ground, Jesus is there to announce that we caught it!  And that shot that we took after the buzzer, he says it left our hands prior to the horn sounding and it counts!  Hebrews 8:12 tells us the Lord will forgive our wickedness and remember our sins no more!

I’m sure glad my Jesus is running the replay booth, aren’t you?