Go Bucks!

January 21, 2025

We’ve dreamed of it, we prayed … well, no, not that. 😊 But everything short of it. The Buckeyes made it to the National Championship Game! Monday, January 20, was the big day!

The whole Buckeye nation was jacked and excited – we were so anticipating this. It is such a big deal for a football lover to make the NCAA championship game. If you are like me, you were preparing for January 20, 2025, ever since the Buckeyes beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Jack Sawyer had the kind of moment that will live on long past his playing days with Ohio State. Of course, one more victory would make it that much sweeter.

Sawyer stripped Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers – his former roommate – and returned the fumble 83 yards for the clinching touchdown in a 28-14 victory over the Longhorns, giving the Buckeyes a shot at their sixth AP national title. After the game, Coach Ryan Day said, “Some guys on this team today I believe will become legends in Ohio State history. Now they get 10 more days together, and an opportunity to tell their story if they go win one more.”

And so it was finally time for that final game.

The invitations were sent.

The food was ready.

There were plates, napkins, cups – everything was ready.

I put on my Buckeye swag.

I had been waiting for this for a long time. It was frustrating at times, wondering if we would actually make it, but now it is on the horizon and my anticipation was high.

I have people I care about who I hoped would watch the game with me. I worked on inviting and getting ready for it. I wanted everything to be right for this special event.

John, friend and follower of Jesus who knew Him so well, wrote that this is how we should approach the second coming of Christ, certainly an event far beyond a NCAA football championship. It’s the greatest thing yet to happen in human history.

John said, “All of us who look forward to his coming stay ready and purify themselves just as Jesus is pure, as his life is a model for our own.” 1 John 3:3

1 John 3 is a passage about hope in the second coming. As believers, we are waiting for Jesus’ appearing. We learn how this hope purifies us. As we look forward in expectation of our God, we are sanctified and made truly holy. We progressively put away sin and increase in our likeness to Christ.

A football game is the kind of game we love, but when it’s over, it’s over. We go back to normal life. But when Christ returns, there will be no more “normal” as we know it. We will be celebrating eternal life with Christ forever and forever. And hopefully, if we are inviting and sharing about Jesus now, the people we love most will be celebrating with us.

I hope if you’re a football lover that you enjoyed the ballgame. But is our main energy and focus looking forward to Jesus’ return and the celebration of our new life forever with Him?

If so, the preparation for the big day is to have our focus on Him. We keep short accounts with people and sin (we take care of problems and missteps quickly). We make our focus to follow Jesus in all our ways.

I’m looking for Jesus with great anticipation and preparation.