What if? Game of inches. Who is your god?

Yes we have heard it before. Football is a game of inches. Football games can turn on 1 play or1 yard or 1 decision. My beloved Patriots just fell to the Giants in the Super Bowl. It hurts. It really hurts. If Eli had only been sacked on 3rd down instead of hitting David Tyree. If Rodney Harrison had come up with the ball instead of Tyree. If if if if if if if if if if. Maybe football is a game of ifs.

I am trying to put it into perspective. In the Super Bowl against the Eagles, Harrison picked off a pass by McNabb that ended the game and sealed the victory for the Pats. What if that pass had been caught by the Eagles receiver and they eventually scored? What if? Well Rodney got that one and the Pats won- game of inches.

How about Super Bowl 36? Now we know how the Rams fans probably felt. The Greatest Show on Turf should have destroyed the Pats in that game. How did the Rams fans feel as Vinatieri hit the game winning field goal? What about the 15-1 Steelers that the Patriots beat in January 2005 in Pittsburgh? What about the 14-2 Chargers that the Patriots beat in January 2007? What about the 1998 Vikings losing in the NFC title game? What if?

How about the Rams previous super bowl against the Titans? Remember the last play of the game? On the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV, Rams linebacker Mike Jones performs The Tackle on Titans receiver Kevin Dyson, who fell one yard short of the goal line - game of yards.

What if Scott Norwood hit his field goal? How did Buffalo fans feel about that outcome? They haven't had a good team since that run in the early 90s. - What if?

Every year there is a loser in the Super Bowl. Here in Patriot Nation we have become accustomed to a Super Bowl win being the natural order of things. Well it is not. Rodney did not intercept the ball to seal the win for the Pats this year. Why not? Why did Rodney Harrison intercept it in Super Bowl 39? The football gods? Ok. Let's get serious. How about the God of the universe? How about the benevolent creator who is in control of all things???

Let's face it. Many of us have made the Patriots our god. I will openly confess that during this 16-0 season I have turned off my favorite Christian radio station and have listened the local sports station almost around the clock. My emotions lived and died based on how well the Pats were playing. During the Ravens game I got so worked up that my wife thought I had our life savings bet on the game. During the Super Bowl this year I was so worked up that I found myself praying for a win. Why in the world was I praying for a win? Ya I wanted the home team to win but I had no control over it and the only thing I would gain from a win was the knowledge that my team won. Is it worth it? Was God really going to help me by making something happen so that the Patriots won? Are the Pats worth having have heart attack for? Are they worth dying for?

Absolutely not. The one and only true and benevolent God is the only one worth dying for. Why did Rodney not catch this ball? How about a benevolent God wanted to teach those of us that put the Pats above Him, who was really in charge? Remember, Patriot Nation, that God is in complete control and He may have thrown us a warning and a gift. There are to be no Gods before Him.

The day I have chest pains over potentially losing eternity with Christ as opposed to getting chest pains at the end of the Super Bowl is the day I have not put this god above the only true God.

Christ saved my life for all eternity. The Patriots have provided finite entertainment.