We are coming down to the wire, building up to the NFL playoffs. The entire season is built around making a spot in the post-season one-and-done tournament to determine the best team in the league. A few observations might prove interesting, even to those who are not football fans:

• Every team, except one, ends the season with a loss.
• Every team, except one, ends the season a loser (by definition, they lost the Super Bowl, their division, missed the playoffs, etc.). At thirty-two teams with a roster limit of fifty-three (including those on the practice squads), that means thirty-one teams with 1,643 players end up losing. I know some fans will say many teams that don’t make the playoffs had winning seasons (because they won more games than they lost), but I think you get my point.
• The minute the Super Bowl is over and the winning team celebrates, everyone goes on with their lives the next day and on to the next big thing.

Yes, the above statistics dwell on the negative, but stay with me here. What motivates all these players, knowing the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against them? What motivates the millions of fans who religiously follow their teams through thick and thin? It’s the hope and the feeling of exaltation at being able to experience, to be part of, to identify with the best team—that is why fans exclaim, “We won!” Members of the practice squad are just as invested as the hardworking player who took to the field on game day.

The family of God is the ultimate winning team, and we believers all play a role. Someday, we will enter into God’s presence for an experience that far surpasses the Super Bowl. Individually, the sought-after MVP award will be available to all who participate “on the field” of life, where every day is game day. The coveted trophy, our reward, is hearing God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Then we will rejoice with all believers who came before us and after us, the entire family of God from all ages, as we exclaim with eternal jubilation, “We won!”

Lord, I recommit myself to be the best person I can be to contribute to the success of the best team in this world and out of this world, the family of God.