A Thought on the Super Bowl

   Like millions of other football fans and others, I tuned in to watch the Super Bowl last night, but unlike most of them, I spent a lot of time looking for one specific player. Now, I did not really have a favorite team, but I settled on the Ravens, without knowing a lot about them. I had not followed their season, did not know the names of many of the players, and did not have anything against the 49ers.

   Most of the people watching, even the Raven fans, focused on the quarterback, Joe Flacco, and he did a superb job guiding that team all through their winning season. The TV cameras kept the spotlight on him and the 49ers QB, Colin Kaepernick, as the game progressed, and we saw them playing, talking, resting, stretching and just being the leaders of their respective teams. That was as it should be, but I kept looking for another quarterback, the backup man for the Ravens, No. 2, Tyrod Taylor.

   Taylor had played for the Va. Tech Holies while we lived in Blacksburg, and was an exciting college QB. Most people in the football world thought he was probably too small to make it in the NFL, but he was drafted by the Ravens in the 6th round, the 180th pick, and won the back up job behind Flacco. I did not get to see him play in the Super Bowl, maybe some day, but glimpsed him along the sideline a few times as he spent his time making sure his head was in the game in case the starter was injured.

   How hard must it be to be in uniform, knowing that if all goes well, you probably won't get to play in the game, and, yet, to keep yourself ready to play at a moments notice. You have to know the game plan, know the plays, know the probable defenses you might face, know your personnel and the other team's also, watch the game unfold in front of you, and have yourself ready at all times. It can't be easy. You could be thrust into the limelight at any time, but, until that time comes, you are just a bit player in the whole drama of the game.

   Should it be any different for a Christian in the game of life? We are all just bit players in God's unfolding story, but that role should not keep us from doing our best, staying prepared for whatever God tells us to do. We won't even be seen on TV, with our name on the back of our jersey, but we are in God's sight, and that is what counts.

   Tyrod will be wearing his super bowl ring, and wearing it with pride, I know. We get to wear the mantle that says "Well done, good and faithful servant" as we stay prepared for action in God's game of life.