So if the Son (Jesus Christ) sets you free, you will be free indeed.

On a Friday evening several years ago, I attended a high school football game. I purchased a football program and noticed on the top of the first page the words, “Faith, Family, Football.” I must admit the words “Faith” and “Family” caught me off guard at a high school football game. I began to think about the words and the relationship they have with each other. A good description of faith can be found in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 11:1 states, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” It is a belief in something greater than yourself, to carry you through life, through both the good times and the bad times, and when you cannot see the way in front of you. An example of the importance of family can be seen in I Kings 5:13-14, which states in part, “King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel – thirty thousand men. He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home.” King Solomon, in building the temple, arranged the schedules of the workers so that the workers would not have to be away from their families for long periods of time because he saw the strength in family that was needed to complete the goal of building the temple. An example of a verse that can be applied to football is Ecclesiastes 9:11, which states, “I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” There are many intangibles that happen in the game of football and in life. When the intangibles happen we feel our faith being tested. It is during those times of testing that we can draw strength and courage from our family and friends, and grow in our faith. Blessings to all, Chaplain Krupnik