Throughout history men have worshiped many false gods, and today is no different. Probably the most popular false god of modern times would be the "sports god". Think about the way we raise our children to worship this false god. We will spend more time and effort to get them involved and interested in sports then we do in teaching them the Word of God. In essence we are telling them, "this is what is really important." We will rush around with more excitement and punctuality to get them to participate in practice and the game than we ever would to get them to church, not to mention the fact that Americans are rarely so strict about our children devoting a moment of the day to devotional reading of the Bible. Fact is, most families in the US have lives that revolve around their childrens' sports programs more than their spiritual life.

Now don't get me wrong, God does not frown upon sports. It's my belief that He invented sports as a diversion for us to pass time, get exercise, and learn to work together. However He does not want humans to replace worship for Him with worship for sports, and sports heroes.

We all have different convictions and I definitely had to surrender to my own convictions of NASCAR. I would do anything to watch a race and plan around the events, even church. But as I experienced in my own life I realized I could grow and be what God wanted me to be when I begin to put him first and plan around him. Its sad to see that the church is put on hold during football season so we can fit in all the events surrounding football while the season last. The thing is God doesn’t put you on hold for anything. He has a direct link to your life through the Holy Spirit. We have become Numb to the convictions because of the excitement of the Sports god.
Psalm 115:8 has an alarming commentary on the worship of false gods. It says:
"Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them."

If you are upset by these words, well then maybe there is your conviction because I just tapped a nerve about something so near and deer to your heart. How you react is up to you.

Enjoy your sports and have fun but don’t put off your chance to plug into church, get involved, and grow. You may find out that you will grow even more as a result of taking time off from a season of football. I know I just said a curse word to some people. Lets set a good example for our children to grow and put the Lord who gave His all for you and me.