Okay, Guys, admittedly, I don't really have a 
good reason for passing this devotional along, 
except that it talks about somebody that, you 
know I like.    Brad, you especially will get a 
kick out of this, since you mentioned these records in a recent posting.
Blessings,
Kathy





Making Points With God
by Jon Walker

“For no one can ever be made right in God's sight 
by doing what his law commands. For the more we 
know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't
obeying it. But now God has shown us a different 
way of being right in his sight—not by obeying 
the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long
ago.” (Romans 3:20-21 NLT)

Brett Favre, the lion-hearted quarterback for the 
Green Bay Packers, is one of my favorite players 
in the National Football League. He’s courageous and
tough-minded, showing a rare grace under 
pressure, yet his boyish enthusiasm for the game 
is infectious as he celebrates each Packer success.

A couple of Sundays ago (Sept. 30), Brett threw a 
pass that set a new record: the most touchdown 
passes by an NFL quarterback – 421.

Although the Pack was playing in Minnesota, the 
officials temporarily stopped the game in order 
to honor Brett’s achievement. And Brett, in his customary
humility, later said he was more interested in a 
team win than an individual record.

In surprising contrast, the very next week (Oct. 
8) Brett tied another record: the most 
interceptions thrown by an NFL quarterback – 277. This game also
was stopped after this record was achieved, but 
only because the interception ended the Packer’s 
last-second attempt to win the game.

The most touchdown passes and the most 
interceptions! It reminds me that there was a 
time when Babe Ruth, the baseball player who was one of the greatest
hitters in the game, owned two records 
simultaneously: the most home runs hit in a 
career as well as the most strike-outs in a career.

Here’s the thing: We tend to think of life as a 
balance sheet that we’ll eventually present to 
God. As long as the number of our touchdown passes exceed
the number of our interceptions, then we’re cool 
with God, right? To echo the Apostle Paul, God forbid this to be true!

“For no one can ever be made right in God's sight 
by doing what his law commands. For the more we 
know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't
obeying it.” (Romans 3:20 NLT)

In other words, we can never be made right by 
throwing touchdown passes – because the more we 
learn about the Law, the more obvious it is we can never throw
enough touchdown passes to make things right with God.

“But now God has shown us a different way of 
being right in his sight—not by obeying the law 
but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago.” (Romans
3:21 NLT)

In his own geek-Greek way, Paul is saying we 
should forget the balance sheet – ignore the 
scoreboard, give up on tracking good and bad statistics. Listen,
there is good news! There’s another way to get 
right in God’s sight, and it has nothing to do 
with your own achievements. It’s based on a promise made
by God long ago – a promise is fulfilled through Jesus Christ.

Can I get an amen?

We are saved by grace and not through faith. It 
is a gift from God, not by our own works, so that 
none of us can boast of the ability to tip the balance
sheet in our own favor. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

No doubt you’ve heard this over and over again, 
including many times in these devotionals. Yet 
many of us still live as if we get right in God’s sight by
what we do – by our works, our achievements, the records we set.

We do this because it is, as Paul says, an 
offense to think of the Gospel as so simple and, 
therefore, it becomes a stumbling block to our pride. Getting
right in God’s sight by what we do appeals to our 
human pride, or as the poet-king James would say, it appeals to our “flesh.”

It makes us feel good, as if we’re doing 
something to earn our way into heaven. If we 
cling to the idea that we can, even in some small way, contribute
toward our salvation, then we also can cling to 
the idea that maybe we’re not that bad – maybe we 
aren’t included in the “all” of “all have sinned and
fall short of God’s glory.”

Put that behind you and get on with the truth: 
You, my friend, can never be made right in God's 
sight by doing what is right – because the closer you get
to God, the more you’ll realize you’re not even 
close to getting it right (see Isaiah 6 and Romans 3:20).

The one thing you can do is to move in loving 
obedience to your gracious heavenly Father, doing 
and saying whatever he tells you to do and say; allowing
your life to be energized by God’s Spirit within you.

What now?

· “Balance sheet” fear – Good news! You are free 
to follow the Father instead of living in 
“balance sheet” fear. You can be who you were meant to be and
you can live how you were meant to live. You 
don’t have to be good enough – you just have to 
trust in the redemptive power of Christ’s resurrection from
the dead. And you don’t have to fear if you hold 
both the record for most touchdown passes and the 
record for most interceptions – love God and live accordingly!

· Record of faith – A record of your faith in 
Jesus is more important than any record of your 
wrongs or resume of your achievements. If you haven’t already
done this, set a spiritual marker as a reminder 
that you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord 
and Savior. Write it down – or establish some other kind
of tangible memorial for this event – and every 
time the devil tells you you’ll never be good 
enough for God, or that you’re so good you can remain independent
of God, take him to that marker and remind him 
that you are right in God’s sight because of Jesus.

· Big play – Next time you’re watching a sporting 
event and one of the players makes the big play, 
turn to the person next to you and say, “That was a great
play, but it won’t make him right in God’s sight.”

· Huge error – Likewise, next time you’re 
watching a sporting event and one of the players 
makes a huge erro, turn to the person next to you and say, “That
was a huge error, but the good news is it won’t 
keep him from getting right in God’s sight.”

· Pray for others – Ask God to show you who to 
pray for, related to getting right in God’s 
sight. It may be a non-believer or someone who believes but struggles
in this area. Pray that this person will know 
God’s “different way of being right in his 
sight—not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures
long ago (Romans 3:21 NLT) And pray that Brett 
Favre and his family will come to know this 
truth, so that when he retires from football he can spend the
rest of his life preaching how to be right in God’s sight.

© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.

Jon Walker is a pastor-advocate living in 
Tennessee and the former pastor of communications at Saddleback Church.

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