That's Not Football

Just the other day while I was watching one of the Thanksgiving Day Football games I saw a commercial that took me back to my childhood. It must not have been a very good commercial because I have no idea what product was being advertised, but it did get my attention. What grabbed my attention was the video of someone playing an old school vibrating football game. If you know what I’m talking about that means at least one thing about you is true, you are old. For those who do not know what I’m talking about this game was pretty simple in design. You have two teams of football guys which you would stand up on a small table top box that had a small football field painted on it. Once you had both teams lined up you simply turned on the switch and the box started vibrating which caused the little men on the table to move around. You had no way of controlling what the men did or where they went and most of the time all the players would just fall over. Now as lame as that sounds it was pretty cool at the time, but it was not football.
As time has gone on there have been other “football” type games ranging from black & white images moving around on the monitor to hand-held games and then the Nintendo 64 came out and that was a huge upgrade to the idea of playing an electronic version of football on a computer. The games they have out now with the PS3 and the Xbox are truly amazing. As good as the games are today they still have something in common with the old school vibrating football game…. It’s not really football.
Football is played with real people on a field with a real ball that is moved up and down the field in an attempt to score points. People get hit and occasionally hurt. It is a tough game. You can say the same thing about any of the electronic games. That does not make the electronic games any less fun or exciting to play. Those games do have their own value and place in entertainment, but they are not same as playing the real game.
Playing an electronic football game does not make you a football player. Reading about football does not mean you are a football player. Watching football and learning all the stats about football and those who play the game does not make you a football player. Only those who play the game on the field with others who are playing the game are “football players”.
The same is true in the spiritual realm. Those who read the Bible and read and study about following Jesus are not necessarily Christians. Anyone can read and study about being a disciple of Jesus Christ, but only those who actually follow and actually try to live out their faith daily are truly disciples of Jesus Christ. So the questions is this, are you simply a student of Christianity or are you simply a person who is seeking to do his will and live his way each day of your life?
Christianity is not a spectators sport. It is real life, 24/7 walking with Jesus and trying to do life his way. Part of being a Christian involves reading and study of the words from God, but then those things which you have read and studied must be put into action. So get off the bench and get out there and live like you are on the winning team.

Love God. Go Love Others.