The Next Play

Philippians 3:13 "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus."

Running up the score is a big issue in this current Patriot's season. They've been winning by such large margins that opponents and commentators have accused them of piling on the points even when they're comfortably ahead. Anyone who has played sports long enough has been on both the receiving and giving end of lop-sided scores. Once in awhile, it feels as if the team you're playing is unnecessarily running up the score. It's not a fun place to be, because while you hate it, you don't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they're so much better than you that they need to stop trying.

I know that's the way I felt when I was playing. If they were beating me 50-0, I would think to myself: "But you're not going to win the NEXT play." I learned that playing with my older brothers. No matter how many times they beat me, and by how much, I wanted one more chance. I saw this in my son Luke recently. He was in the backyard playing against an older cousin and lost 50-1. I overheard him say, "Let's play again."

That's the mentality I want him to have. No matter how many times he gets knocked down, I want him to stand back up and say to himself, "I'll win the next play."

It's the Christian mentality. Paul says that he doesn't care what happened in the past, good or bad, he's looking ahead and he's going to win the prize. The knockdowns don't matter - it's the rising again. Proverbs 24:16 says " for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again."

I don't know where Christians get the idea that we'll never get knocked down. We will, and sometimes when it happens it will feel as if the enemy is piling on, or running up the score. The promise is not that we won't get knocked down - the promise is that we will rise again. Every time.