On the Clock

If you're like me, you're enduring a bit of a sports withdrawal, right about now. The corona virus has ground to a halt every amateur and professional sporting event, all across the globe.Those of us who fancy, for instance, a good baseball game this time of year, are consigned to watching YouTube re-plays of important World Series games, random people running onto the field, or (my favorite) baseball "fights".  

There is nothing unchristian, by the way, in liking sports. The apostle Paul often compared his walk with Jesus to ancient sporting events, like running and wrestling. The Greeks were keen on sports and their importance was not lost on Paul. 

Which is not to say that we should idolize sports, either. God help us, on Sundays in the Fall, from having our attention diverted from the Gospel, in lieu of football. I get a bit upset when folks show up to church in football jerseys. As within, so without. To that point, the NFL, in particular, has done a good job of mesmerizing a large swath of the male population of the US, and quite a large number of women, too. 

Speaking of the NFL....

Its teams are in the midst of drafting college players, and this years' event, being televised from the homes of NFL executives and coaching staffs, is the most watched draft ever. 

Sports enthusiasts are so starved for some action that even the draft, fully four months away from the start of the season, compensates for the loss of live sports. 

The draft was not always this popular, by the way. ESPN, trying to squeeze every dime from it's marketing rights, has transformed the draft from a nothing burger into a five course meal. 

ESPN hypes the draft so thoroughly that fans are on the edge of their seats, during the process, when their teams prepare to make a pick or, in ESPN parlance, their team goes "on the clock." The ticking clock has been a dramatic ploy since time immemorial. 

Interestingly, there is a spiritual lesson lurking in the draft process. 

You see, you and I and all of humanity is "on the clock", between our first and last breaths. 

For some reason, God, who exists outside of time and space, has placed us in a time-denominated existence, for a very brief season. In this vile and corrupt world, our only salvation comes in submission to Jesus. 

Like NFL fans, obsessed with their teams' draft picks, you and I are surrounded by an invisible crowd of angels and ascended saints who want to know if we will pick Jesus, or sin. When it's our turn for eternal judgment, that is the only decision that will matter. 

Here, at T-sciple.com, we're entirely devoted to the propagation of the Gospel, and helping believers convey the urgency of this message. We're all on the clock. The consequences of making the wrong pick are eternally important.  Serving Jesus ain't no picnic, but it is vastly better than the alternative. 

Prayer is the umbilical cord that binds us to the eternal God, who exists outside of time. 

We just dropped a shirt that will inspire you, and others, to spend a lot of time on the clock, while we're on it, in prayer. 

https://bit.ly/3cQclAS

Wear this one and the world will know that you pick Jesus. 

Happy T-scipling...

Jeff Criswell

Director of Teeology