TAKING A KNEE

Some football players, when they break away for a go-ahead score or cause a key third-down sack, want to be sure they get their full ESPN's worth -- the dances, the struts, the jerky moves they've been saving up for just such an opportunity.

Then there's the other approach -- the guy who rips off a long touchdown run, flips the ball back to the referee, and trots to the sideline without all the show and the secret handshakes. He lives by this code: Don't act like it's the first time you've ever seen the inside of the end zone. Look like you've been there . . . like you never expected to be anywhere else.

When Jesus returns, you can be sure there will be a lot of people doing a lot of tap dancing, trying hard to prove why their occasional big plays should be enough to earn them a spot on His team. But eventually, "every knee" will bow, "in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11). That's when the people who'd already humbled themselves before Him on earth will have no hesitation taking a knee and giving Him praise in heaven. It'll be like they've been there... like they never expected to be anywhere else. And where they'll be thankful now that there's no more penalty for excessive celebration.

-- Joe Gibbs in Two Minute Drills online devotional


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