The other day it was a little thing that persuaded me to think, embrace, and cheer for something against my intentions.

On Sunday I watched the Grey Cup, which is the Canadian football equivalent to the NFL’s Super Bowl. I’m not saying these two championships are equal in any respects. I’m just saying that what the Super Bowl is to the NFL, the Grey Cup is to the CFL – the national championship.

I won’t get deep into all the differences, but the NFL has bigger, faster, more skilled players than the CFL, while the CFL has a bigger field, uses bigger footballs and has more players on the gridiron.

But that’s all a side note.

Now you can persuade me on many topics; I will listen to logic. But when it comes to sports, I will not be persuaded for any reason. 

… Well, maybe one little reason. 

And it was a little reason that had me cheering for a team that I had no previous interest in.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats went head-to-head on Sunday to determine who was the best in the country.

Neither team was my favourite, but if there was some kind of pull or rationale for cheering for one team, it should have been for Hamilton. 

You see, I’ve never lived in Winnipeg. I’ve only ever driven through it and flown into the airport on maybe three occasions. I’ve only stayed there to attend a conference, and stayed overnight in another part of the province maybe three or four nights in my life. 

Whenever I’ve driven through Winnipeg I’ve taken the ring road that goes around the city – except for one time before the ring road was built. 

I have no ties, no history, no probable cause to cheer for the Bombers.

On the other hand, Hamilton is in the same province I was raised in and currently live in. My son worked there for a couple of years – though he refused to live there – and I have slept overnight in Hamilton while attending conferences.

I guess what I’m saying is I have more reason to cheer for Hamilton than Winnipeg.

Hamilton is known as the Hammer, the armpit of Canada, while Winnipeg is the Windy City with mosquitos the size of Canadian geese.

If I had to choose who to cheer for in the Grey Cup this year, it should have been the Ti-cats … but I cheered for the Blue Bombers instead. 

Even more out of place, the week before I had cheered for Winnipeg over Regina, though I went to college in Regina for four years, and attended a few Roughrider games at Taylor Field. 

What persuaded me to cheer for the other side?

One little thing: a friend of mine bleeds Blue and Gold. I’ve seen this man’s heart trampled by his team so many times I can’t count them. This guy is passionate for Winnipeg like no one else and the team has gone 29 years without a Grey Cup victory.

The little thing that persuaded me to cheer for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was that I couldn’t bare to see this guy go down in flames again. I felt so bad for him.

… Maybe my cheering paid off. The Blue Bombers defeated the Tiger-Cats decisively.

Here’s the thing: Maybe we don’t think enough about Christ’s sacrifice for us. If we did, we might be persuaded more often to side with Him, and to say no to sin and yes to following His will.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How much does Christ’s love sacrifice mean to you? Think about that for a while.   Leave your comments and questions below.