I Knew the Day Would Come

When Nebraska joined the Big Ten, I knew the day would come. I grew up in northwest Iowa in the 1980s. My family and most of my friends cheered for the Hawkeyes. We saw them make the Final Four in basketball, win many national championships in wrestling, and make the Rose Bowl three times in a decade. The names were legendary: Lute Olsen, Dan Gable, and Hayden Fry.

And then one day, I met a girl. I guess in her early 20s she was technically a woman. It was the 1990s. Our studies took us to the South. She was from Nebraska. Iowa had fallen on hard times. So I become a Husker fan. Purists would say I jumped on the bandwagon. I would argue I married into the family. Just in time too. In cites like Lexington, Kentucky and Atlanta, Georgia, we celebrated three national championships four years. 

I still cheered for Iowa too. They didn’t play Nebraska so there wasn’t a conflict of interest. In the early part of the 2000s, Iowa won a few more Big Ten Championships. I wasn’t the only person cheering for more than one team.

Then on November 25th, 2011, it happened. I woke up. It was the day after Thanksgiving. I was still full from turkey and sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts and pumpkin pie. Nebraska and Iowa were finally playing. Amber and I were going to the game. I had to choose on this day who I would cheer for. I could only cheer for one team. I looked in our closet. It was a nice enough day. I found a white long-sleeved t-shirt. And then the moment came: I picked a red fleece with a big N on it. My red trail running shoes. And a black hat with a red N front and center. 

But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord. –Joshua 24:15 

In life, we can only have one god or God. Only one. No more. Either gods we have created or God who has created us. God tells us His desire in the First Commandment: 

You shall have no other gods before me. –Exodus 20:3 

Many of us find ourselves saying: I knew that day would come when I would have to choose between my god and God. Achievement, career, money, social standing, a relationship, security, sex, food, beauty, a social cause, or success can rival God for the primary place in our heart. Over the next six weeks, we will look at our American idols and counterfeit gods, and seek to restore God to the primary place in our lives. And we will cling to the promise of Jesus: 

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. –Matthew 6:33 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig