Today’s Bread ~ Challenge Flag

Isaiah 43:25 – “I – yes, I alone – am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.  Let us review the situation together, and you can present your case if you have one.”

Aside from his God and his family, my husband lives for one thing and one thing alone.  Football season.

From February to August, Mike tracks scouting and recruiting.  He eagerly anticipates training camp, and he counts down the days to the first preseason game.  While everyone else watches dismissively, Mike is eyeing and evaluating the new players and the play calling.  The first home game of the season is treated with the same reverence as Christmas and Easter.

To avoid a widow-like state during these months, I have allowed my husband to educate me on the finer points of  football, and even found myself becoming a bona fide fan.

One thing that delights me beyond measure is the theology that I’ve discovered along the way.  Football provides some marvelous Biblical analogies.  Allow me to present one now.

Consider the challenge flag.

If the coach disagrees with a referee’s ruling on the field, he can throw the challenge flag.  The referees will review the footage from every possible angle, and if they agree with the coach, they reverse their call.  If they disagree, the challenging team is penalized with a time-out.

Job 1:6-7 – One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan the Accuser came with them.
“Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan.  And Satan answered the LORD, “I have been going back and forth across the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

Throughout the Bible, Satan has many names.  One that rings particularly true for me is “The Accuser.”  The Accuser and I have a history.

“Why did you eat that?  You have no self-control!”

“You’re an idiot.  You’re ugly.  No one will ever love you.”

“You don’t have the education to teach or speak.  Who do you think you are?  You’ll never be anything for God.”

“How could you do that?  How could you say something like that?”

We will always struggle with self-doubt. We will always struggle with sin.  We will make the wrong choice and say the wrong thing.  Be comforted by the words of David:  You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD (Psalm 139:4).

God knew the mistakes I would make before I made them.  God knows where and when we will fall short.  He knows our sins of omission and commission.  And because Jesus paid the penalty, every moment is another chance to wipe our slate clean.

Romans 3:22-24 – We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.  For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in His gracious kindness declares us not guilty.  He has freed us by taking away our sins.

We will always struggle with sin.  We will always struggle with pride.  We will put things before God.  We will make mistakes, and we will choose to go our own way.  For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  But when we turn back to God, confess and repent of our sin, God declares us not guilty.

When Satan throws the challenge flag, remember that you have a choice.  You don’t have to watch the instant replay.

You don’t have to relive your sins and mistakes.  The enemy would have you replay the incident over and over in your mind; analyzing it from every angle, filling your head with self-defeating commentary.  Here is a truth the Accuser does not want you to know: you have the power to choose your thoughts.

2 Corinthians 10:5 – We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

And how do we do this?  With the same divine power that God used to raise Christ from the grave.

2 Corinthians 10:4 – We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

The next time the Accuser throws the challenge flag on your past, hear the words of the Great Referee: “The Ruling on the field stands.  The challenging team with be charged with one time-out.”

Isaiah 43:13 – “From eternity to eternity I am God.  No one can oppose what I do.  No one can reverse my actions.”

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You so much for Your Word.  Thank You so much for the saving grace of the cross. Please God, help us to shut off the instant replay in our minds.  Give us holy earplugs that block out the accusations of the enemy, and help us to better hear Your voice.  When the accusing thoughts hit us from every angle, help us to take them captive for Christ.  Convict us to confess what we need to confess and repent of that which needs repenting so that we can silence his accusations.  Help us to cling to Your Son and tap into the mighty power of the Holy Spirit.  We love You so much, God.  It is in the beautiful name of Jesus Christ that we pray.  Amen.