Our Saviors Disappoint Us

In the fourth quarter of last year's Southeastern Conference Championship Game, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow led his team to a comeback victory over #1 ranked Alabama and to a chance to play for the National Championship, a title the Gators went on to win.

Fast forward a year to this December. The scenario is very similar. This time it is the Gators who come in ranked #1, but they find themselves in a familiar position; trailing to Alabama. Would Tebow again be the savior of the Gator Nation, put the team on his shoulders, and will his way to victory? Would the famed quarterback who is often referred to as "Superman" or the "Chosen One" give victory to his people? For most of the game he wasn't given the chance. Alabama controlled the tempo and the game clock while a helpless Tebow was forced to watch from the sideline.

His chance came, and he began to do what he has done so many times in the past. He carried his team down the field; but this time he couldn't finish the job.

As a Gator fan, I have incredible respect for this young man. I admire his athletic ability and passion for a game and a team that I love, and I appreciate what he has helped the Gators to accomplish during his time at Florida. His record off the field is outstanding as well. His character has remained without blemish during his four years at Florida, and his conviction as a Christian remains the same in the midst of the pressure of being continually in the spotlight as the face of college football. As much as I love Tebow and the Gators, I was reminded again that our earthly saviors often and ultimately disappoint and fail us. As Tim's eye-black patches have served to point us to Christ with the Scripture verses written on them, may his inability to finish the job Saturday point us to One who can truly save us; not with touchdowns, but with His own blood.

We need a Savior who can give us more hope than what is promised to us in the thrill of sporting events. We need one to rescue us, not from a fourth quarter deficit, but from the holy wrath of a just God. We need one who can enter the game, who is both willing and able to win and grant victory for us. We need a Savior who can fulfill the law of God that we have broken, who can love the Father perfectly in the way we should have, and who will be willing to suffer the curse of the law that is over us for our willful disobedience. An athlete can provide a great sense of joy and excitement if he/she is on our team, but eventually they will be gone and will one day face death and the grave as all of us do, leaving us without any hope and ultimately disappointed. We need a Savior who can rise from the dead!

Oh God, disappoint us with everything but Thine Own Self.