Hold Onto the Ball

I’m sorry for all the football illustrations, but I am who I am.

The news media in Minnesota is all over Adrian Peterson (the Viking star running back) because he’s leading the NFL in fumbles. It is interesting to hear all the opinions and advice for Adrian about how he can better hold onto the ball, most of which come from people who have never carried a football competitively in their lives.

One of my pet peeves in watching a football game often takes place when someone scores a touchdown by running into the end zone. Often the person immediately lets go of the ball as soon as they cross the goal line. They do this because they can. The football simply has to “break the plane” of the goal line and it counts as a touchdown, so the player really doesn’t need the ball anymore. This is the crux of this article. We quickly let go of the ball which is the only way we can score a touchdown. Without the ball, you can run across this goal line over and over again, but it holds no meaning. But if you have the ball in your hands, it becomes a touchdown, worthy of celebrating.

Sometimes people view the Christian life in much the same way. We need Jesus to be saved, but once we are “saved”, we drop Him. We’ve received our ticket to heaven (or so we think), so we don’t need to carry him around any longer. We have what we wanted; what do we need him for?

One of the more challenging aspects of studying Scripture has to do with the numerous conditional clauses that you find throughout Scripture. Conditional clauses are the “If . . . then . . .” statements you see throughout.

One of the most familiar and a difficult one to truly understand is Romans 10:9, “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Often this is interpreted to mean that I just need to pray this prayer, admit my sin, and believe Jesus really is who the Bible says, then I’m all set. My place in heaven is guaranteed. No matter what I do from this point on, I am saved because at one point in my life I confessed and believed.

But you can’t interpret one verse without looking at the rest of Scripture. So add these to your consideration as you ponder what Romans 10:9 means.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’
Matthew 7:21-23

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.”
Matthew 10:32-33


“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:3

“. . . he (Jesus) has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him – provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.” Colossians 1:22-23

“Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.” I John 2:3-6

We can’t let go of the ball. It would be like building a new house on a solid foundation and then, once the house is done, pulling the foundation out from under the house. The house will not stand and neither will we unless we cling to the One who brought us into His salvation.

God calls us to a life of faithfulness not simply a moment. He doesn’t just ask for everything at the moment of salvation and then gives it all back. He keeps asking. He wants everything. And when we say, “I give you my life,” Jesus expects that we do just that every moment of every day of our lives.

As Heidelberg Catechism answer 1 says, “That I am not my own, but belong – body and soul, in life and in death – to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ . . . because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”

My marriage is a great example. I haven’t given my love to Alisa, which is past tense. I am giving my love to her. It is an ongoing commitment I’ve made as her husband.

Are you giving yourself to Jesus each day? That is what He desires, even expects from those who call themselves His followers.