God loves sports

             Up here in Western Canada we don’t really notice basketball. They call this march madness. The only thing maddening is all the coverage. What is a bracket? Is Middle Tennessee good? Is there a Canadian team to cheer for? The Raptors? I think there professional aren’t they? This time of year for the sports fan is nuts. If you love all sports, then nobody will ever see you for a month. Here in Calgary there is Hockey winding down and football winding up. The NLL Lacrosse is still going strong. Sorry no basketball, that’s a Toronto (only) thing.

            As a rule of thumb, Toronto sports are not Canada’s team. Except the Blue Jays of Baseball. For whatever reason we can forgive ourselves for cheering. I love the Jays and they know it. There are Jays on my TV 48/7. They are on my cereal box, magazines, and toilet paper (just kidding). Oh, they would put Jays talk there too if they could. For some reason, as a Canadian, the Jays are Canada’s team. The Raptors of Basketball is another story. Toronto calls them Canada’s team. Nice try Toronto it’s basketball.

            I have had flashes where I cheered for a basketball team. The Michael Jordan era had me watching. I loved those Bulls teams. I even Watched March madness once because the team that won was the underdog. Hmmmm, who were they? I guess it was in march too. I guess because of the snow I don’t get Basketball. Dummy, then why do you like the Jays huh? Fair enough, the only ball team we had in Calgary had to start its season on the road for a month because of the snow at home. They folded, and trust me a basketball team would fold here too. They have tried with soccer, baseball, and basketball, and they all flopped. Were Canadian and hockey is it (try telling Toronto that).

            Gee what does God have to say about sports. Gods thoughts on sports are weaved throughout the Bible. He does not say he loves the Packers (of course he does). God probably loves the Jays, but not the Raptors (just kidding sort of). Paul in the Bible says to run the race well. 2 Timothy 2:5 says “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” I totally believe we could play sports in heaven. There are many scriptures that illustrate playing the game well. A good ball game is fun, good, and team building. I bet Jesus has a mean slam dunk (if he likes basketball).

            God loves to talk about working together, running a race, and turning the cheek. He wants fair play. If you think about it, God really does allow fair play. It would be easy for God to cheat. He is God dummy. He makes the rules. Yet, God allows us to play, but we must play by the rules. The life rules are simple if you break it down to the Ten Commandments. The rules are simple if we follow the sermon on the mount teachings. Are they simple? Then why can’t we follow them totally? I suppose it comes down to Hockey. Everything in Canada comes down to hockey. If you can’t follow the rules, then into the penalty box you go. They even make reference to it by calling the box the sin bin. God plays life the same way. We get called and given a time out now and then. I do think (rarely) God will even give a game misconduct and your gone.

            Sports is all we have. The world embraces Soccer although good luck with that in North America. More kids play soccer here than anything else, but people would not watch a soccer match professionally for free. It’s like watching paint dry. Isn’t baseball that way too? Still we love hockey and football. Go figure, the violent sports. Yet, basketball is woven into the fabric of America just as baseball is.

            We are weird in Canada. We are told that were nice and polite. We always say sorry. Yet, we have the fiercest army (small but feisty). We love violent sports and call soccer player’s wimps when they fake an injury (on eveyr friggin play).  Maybe it comes down to digging and fighting. Basketball and baseball players don’t really get into scrums, but hockey players do. I think God would bless us more if we got into it sometimes. Show a little feisty attitude towards life. Far too often people settle and play for the tie. I think God plays to win, don’t you?

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