“Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10)

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, and tonight the Indianapolis Colts will take on the New Orleans Saints for the yearly NFL championship. I enjoy watching the game every year – along with millions of other fans – because who doesn’t enjoy a good contest? Whether it is a sporting or non-sporting event, a well-matched contest often elicits strong responses and can involve our whole being: rapid heartbeats, intense emotions, and physical displays of elation or frustration. And that’s simply for the observer!

However, if you are reading this, you are actually on the game field, a player for one of two sides. We all are situated in an arena where there are absolutely no sidelines or bleachers – that is, no possibility for spectators. Each of us chooses which team we are playing for, but only one team will truly consider you valuable. It is a very, very well-matched contest that not only involves our whole being, but requires it. Yet, there are no odds as to who will be the winning team; it is simply a certainty that the team for whom Jesus Christ is head coach is going to win.

I am, of course, using a sports metaphor to describe life. Life is hardly a game, yet we are still players in a well-matched contest between the forces of good and evil, between God and Satan. It’s a real battle, as real as tonight’s Super Bowl. And while this is not the championship game (for that was won a long time ago by Jesus’ victory at the cross and the grave), we are still involved in a “regular season” contest of cosmic proportions. Our day-to-day game-play is going to be attacked, but we must play, for we have won.