It is that time of the year for the BIG GAME! Every year, hundreds of thousands of people that haven’t hardly watched a lick of football on their television screens, watch this game! It’s the largest single marketing event of the year. People have parties and churches put together outreaches. Meanwhile, the ads at halftime are continually the biggest hit for the “non-fan” of the 2 teams squaring off! The second half of the game is way less watched due to the fact that the ads are over, time is getting late, and school is the next day. On and on the argument goes for making the Super Bowl a holiday. (Or the Monday afterwards anyway!)
You have heard it said that the beer commercials “are always the best.” Now there have been some great commercials over the years: Doritoes, the Dot Com wars, Chevy and Ford; but it seems that year after year Budweiser puts out some of the most heart-string tugging commercials of all. This year is no exception. They are bringing back the little yellow lab puppy, the horse trainer, and of course the Clydesdales (which is more recognizable than the beverage itself). This year’s commercial is entitled “Lost Dog.”
Now please, let’s not use this blog or this commercial to debate drinking. That is not the purpose here.
As you watch the journey of “folly” and curiosity of this yellow puppy, you see him get completely lost. He faces strange places, wet places, and a very scary place. As I watched this ad, my mind went straight to the parable of the prodigal son. The story is found in the scriptures in Luke 15:11-32.
How many times in our life have we found ourselves off the beaten path of being a Christ Follower. Reason being, we think we have the answers for ourselves. Maybe we just feel the insatiable desire to “touch the burner for ourselves.” Perhaps we are bored of the perceived “Do’s and Don’t” of what some would call “Organized Religion.” The Good News is that there is good news! Just like this commercial, Jesus will do whatever it takes––scratch that––DID whatever it took to give us a way to new life! He Gave His Life For Us!
The Super Bowl…don’t just look for the entertainment value of this larger than life venue. Listen to the voice of Christ as He is speaking to us about the culture we live in!