While I got this photo from my favorite site for random photos, you can tell that the place kicker is playing for the Air Force Academy. It’s probably a field goal instead of a kickoff also. Picture courtesy of pxhere.com, a website dedicated to non-copyrighted images.

May 16, 2024 / 0 comments

The Wrong Hope that Wastes Time

This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

  • Jeremiah 17:5

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in humans.

  • Psalm 118:8

Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.

  • Psalm 146:3

The NFL Draft was about three weeks ago.  Have all those that were drafted signed contracts by now?  Have any of them been injured during these three weeks so that they might never play football again?  How many will be cut from the team, falling short of expectations?

With each new selection, the talking heads applauded the player’s past performance (in college for the most part).  But sometimes, they would suggest something like “inconsistency” or “needs to gain weight.”  Other shortcomings might have been mentioned.

But why were over a half million people in attendance?  Watching it on television was like watching paint dry. Okay, I had it on so that I had a talking head noise in the background to promote better napping. I would wake up and wonder if they had ever picked anyone from my alma mater, but the nap was nice.

It was offensive in many cases with virtue signaling here and there.  And when the virtue signaling was praising things that are far from the Christian worldview, I was angered.

But what brought me to my knees was that millions watched it on television to go along with the half million in attendance.  Note: The half million was the combined attendance over the three days.  Yes, three days of wasted time.

Of the roughly 250 players that are drafted each year only about 30% make the team.  All were praised as being the “savior of the franchise” but only 30% will ever play a down in the regular season.  But people were in such worship of these mere humans, that each pick seemed to be life and death.

The Scriptures say that we need to place ALL our trust in God.  Trusting in man is folly at best.  Idol worship and worshipping of false gods?  Definitely.

I heard a story about a southern college who had the best quarterback in the USA back decades ago.  The media touted how he would easily win the Heisman trophy the next year.  But in the off season, the college boosters bought the quarterback a Cadillac.  It was against NCAA rules, but they hid the gift under many layers of red tape.  Three games into the season, the team had not won any of the games and the quarterback looked pathetic.  It was obvious that the offensive line was not blocking properly.  When the media asked members of the offensive line, one of them said, “Let the Cadillac block for him!”

My point is that in a team sport, it takes a team.  One player might fit a hole, but the one player does not make the team complete.  Then there are those who get injured.  And there are those, like an engineer I worked with after he was drafted by an NFL team, who simply got tired of the sport and the money was not that important.  And then there are those who looked good in college but could not step up their game to the professional sport.

And maybe I was upset in that an engineer makes calculations that make everything that moves around us safe for use (think skyscrapers, bridges, automobiles, trains and the tracks they run on, etc..  Engineers save lives every day.  Nurses save lives.  EMTs save lives.  Teachers prepare the next generation to become engineers, nurses, EMTs and other professions that save lives.  And none of those people will make in their lifetime what some of these drafted people at the NFL draft, playing a game, will make in a few months’ time.

And it is proof to the casual viewer that we invent new idols to worship every day.  Will I root for the local sports team?  Yes, even if I do not watch the game because I am writing something.  But I will not worship the team, the coaches, or the players.  And I will never have to say, “Wait until next year.”  My life depends on God daily and losing a ballgame is only a mild disappointment, and in the blink of an eye, replaced with my next thing to write about for the glory of God.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.

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