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Cross Words: Blessed?
A post game interview by a Green Bay Packer player, whose team had just defeated the Chicago Bears, caught my attention. In it he stated among other things that he and his teamates were “blessed” to have won the game and been given the opportunity to advance to the Super Bowl. It got me to thinking, does that somehow imply that the Chicago Bears were in some way cursed?
There seems to be a sad misunderstanding of what the word “blessed” really means. Just as the aforementioned football player did, we all are prone to think we are “blessed” as long as we win, we prosper, we are healthy, we are happy, etc. On the opposite side of the spectrum, we tend to believe that if things aren’t going well (i.e. job layoffs, illnesses, football losses) then God has somehow abandoned us or has placed a curse on us.
 In sharp contrast to our modern use of the word, Jesus said the truly “blessed’ were the poor, the mournful, the persecuted, the merciful, etc. (Matt. 5). Their being blessed had nothing to do with what was going on around them but rather what was going on inside them. They were blessed because they were seeking after the things of God rather than the things of the world.
I’m not sure how involved God is in the outcome of football games, if He even is at all.  (Given the Panther’s record this year I’d say He’s not)  I do know however that God has followers on both sides of the playing field, in football and in life. We may not always raise the championship trophy or bring home the biggest paycheck, but if we know Him and seek after Him we really are “blessed”.

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