What does a “first down” look like for your church, organization, business, or family?
Another NFL quarterback had an amazing losing game on Sunday. The New York Giants’ Eli Manning threw for 350 yards, 6 touchdowns and no interceptions as his team scored 49 points. But it wasn’t enough to win since Drew Brees threw for 511 yards and 7 touchdowns for the 52-49 win by the New Orleans Saints. Not a proud moment for the defensive coaches or players for either team.
I watched some of the game and at one point heard the commentators say that the best thing either team could do was to keep their offense on the field as long as possible to minimize the scoring of the other team’s offense.
Big plays and scores can happen quickly in the NFL and, as I have said before, the only way to guarantee a win is to score more points than the other team. But if 49 points is not enough, maybe keeping the ball out of the hands of the opponent is a really good strategy. So, how can a team do that? By sustaining long, time of possession consuming drives. And that happens by making one first down after another.
In the 13 games that have already been played in week 8, the teams that scored the most points were 13-0. No surprise. Teams that had the greatest time of possession were 7-6. Teams with the most first downs were 8-5. What that means is that winning time of possession and first downs does not guarantee a win, but does increase your team’s chances of winning.
So, now I go back to my original question. What does a “first down” look like in your context? In real life, scoring is harder to measure. So is competition. But, once we can figure out what a first down looks like, it is much easier to know if we are achieving them.
Here’s what I know about first downs:
- They are goal oriented. On the football field, the goal line is fixed. In real life, we have to set our goals and the only goals that you absolutely cannot reach are the ones you never set. Philippians 3:14 says, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
- They are forward facing. So often in life, fear and failure cause us to shrink back and live by memory instead of vision. A first down cannot happen by going backward. Ecclesiastes 7:10 says, “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.”
Fear and failure can cause us to shrink back and live by memory instead of vision. Click To Tweet
So what goals has God given you that are drawing your focus forward in your church, organization, business, or family? Our lives matter so much to God that He wants to help us make one first down after another toward fulfilling His purposes.
