Biggest, Best Blocker
Another football season is rapidly approaching, and (not wrongly) most of the attention will go to the Quarterbacks and Running Backs and Receivers but I’ve always had a special place of respect and appreciation in my heart for a very different position, which is perennially at the other end of the fan-attention spectrum and that’s the Offensive Line.
While this certainly makes perfect sense intellectually – how could passers and receivers succeed but for the OL’s (brilliant) blocking which gives both of them the time needed to drop back or run their routes, or what runner could make it down the field but for the OL’s blocking to open up the “holes” and “lanes” amid all of the defenders? (Okay, okay, Barry Sanders succeeded with little to no help but the exceptions are few and very far between) – the other reason is that I’ve had very close connections with a certain NFL team who had THE GREATEST offensive line in the history of the league, pretty much indisputably even for fans of other teams [including personally knowing very well and at times working with many of their players and front office big-wigs, attending the same (super-small) school as the son of the team’s now-Hall-of-Fame Head Coach, etc.] … monumental memories, but the main point for the purposes of this particular post is that the concept of phenomenal blocking has been embedded in my brain since I was a child.
It was enforced in a very different way just two days ago.
Friday was as hot and humid and oppressive outside as I can recall in my entire life. Indeed, this area has set new all-time high temperatures these past two weeks with Friday taking the proverbial cake – more about that dramatic day in a future post, for now let’s talk about Saturday. The weather was still super-hot and I had occasion to be in downtown DC, the country’s crystal-clean capital (NOT!) (aesthetically or ethically, unfortunately) and I felt those smoldering sunbeams every step I took, every inch of the way as I made my way walking from the U.S. Capitol to the Golden Triangle to Foggy Bottom (i.e., GWU) but once I reached 10th or 11th Street NW it became much cooler and more comfortable ergo enjoyable… why? Because that’s where the downtown practically begins, with its huge office buildings providing much-needed and appreciated shade.
But like those big buildings blocked my body from being burned by the SUN, the Bible blocks us from being burned by the SIN which is so prevalent and pervasive and perpetually present around us in modern-day society.
- “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” (Psalm 119:11, KJV)
- “This book of the law [i.e., the Bible] shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” (Joshua 1:8)
- “like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2)
Similarly, during this time of the year in particular, many people apply to their body suntan lotion with a high Sun Protection Factor (SPF) when they go to the beach or take a long walk in the summer; I wonder how many of them (even think to) apply to their heart, to their mind, to their brain the balm of the Bible, bubbling with blessing and benevolence every time a person puts it on their inside, on their interior via several ways I’ll note below.
As we go through life, may we not (foolishly) try to “complete passes” or “run routes” or “rush down the field” WITHOUT the biggest, best BLOCKER in the universe, the Bible, the literal and living Word of God! (If we simply ingest it, it’ll block better than a billion-SPF lotion, and even better than “the Hogs” did for Doug Williams and Mark Rypien and John Riggins and Art Monk and “the Smurfs” when I was a kid.)
Desire it.
Read it.
Study it.
And I’m going to help you (and/or your family, friends, fellow congregation members, etc.) even memorize it. In massive amounts. And, despite what you might think or feel right now, you/they will actually find it to be a lot of FUN so stay tuned!
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