TOM GILSON — It’s Super Bowl Sunday. Imagine two very different players on one of the teams. One of them is totally committed to the team, to winning every game, all the way through to the Super Bowl. He practices with all he’s got. When he’s not working out he stays busy studying the game. On game day he’s all over the coach, saying, “Put me in! Put me in! I don’t care if they rough me up — I want to be out there to help us win!”

The second player is very different. “Thank you, Coach, for letting me wear this cool uniform and hang out with the team,” he says. “I’d sort-of-like-to-maybe be in the game for a couple of plays once in awhile, if you don’t mind. Let’s not overdo it, though. I’m pretty content with sitting on the beach.”

How did a slacker like that make it onto a Super Bowl team? Imagine he won some crazy lottery or something. It’s an illustration. Stay with me.

Now let’s imagine this team wins the Super Bowl. They’re certainly going to toss a big party, complete with a feast. Of the two players, which one will enjoy that celebration more? Obviously it’s going to be the player who was fully committed, who was in the game as much as he could be, and really contributed.

There’s going to be a victory banquet for God’s followers, too. The Bible calls it the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” — the Lamb of God, that is. It will be a huge celebration with Jesus Christ. You can read about it in Revelation 19:6-9.

As of Sunday morning we don’t know which NFL team is going to be partying Sunday night. We do know who’s going to win the right to the banquet with Jesus Christ. He’s already won. He defeated sin, death and Satan through his own death and resurrection. He did it all. It’s His victory, but still he’s going to let his team join with him in the feast.

We have a part in it, too, after all. God has given us the responsibility to follow Him and to lead others in His name to follow Him, too. So we’re in the game, too.

Some of us are saying, “I’m glad I get to hang out with other believers. They’re a pretty cool bunch of people. I’m grateful that Jesus Christ saved me. I’ll go to church. I’ll act like I think a Christian should act, but only to a certain point. I don’t want to overdo it.”

Others of us are praying regularly: “God, please put me in the game! Prepare me, equip me, give me opportunities, whatever it takes: I just want to lift up your name and help others learn how great you are. If I run into conflict, I pray for your help so I’ll handle it in your way. If I get roughed up, I don’t mind, as long as it’s in your will. Just put me in there!”

Which of these two is going to enjoy the victory celebration more?

I’m looking forward to the feast. I want to be right in the middle of it with my great, beloved Savior, Jesus Christ knowing that I really threw myself into the game.

It isn’t just for the sake of the celebration, obviously. To` be “in the game” is to live for God and for others: that’s the whole “game plan.”

I don’t mind admitting, though, that I’m also motivated by my confidence that Jesus Christ has won, and we’ve got a victory banquet coming. There’s another word for that confidence: faith. That’s certainly an acceptable motivation for Christians!

It’s like Nancy Flory wrote a couple days ago: Are you in the game? You might get tired. No, you might get exhausted. You’ll probably get banged around, possibly even by your own teammates. There might be times when your heart sinks to see the other team advancing the ball — or even worse, when you fumble it away. You might get taken out by a painful, severe injury. Otherwise you stay in the game.

And at the end of it all, you’ll know you were in it all the way. You weren’t a sideline-sitter. You’re really going to enjoy that celebration when it comes!