College football returns to action this weekend with a few games during “Week 0,” while the following week is the official start for most teams around the country. As always, predictions and rankings are made this time of year as to who the best teams will be.
Heading into the season, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, and Notre Dame are ranked 2-5 in both the AP Top 25 and the AFCA Coaches Poll, while Alabama is once again ranked first in both.
Alabama’s soon-to-be 71-year-old coach, Nick Saban (who just signed a lucrative contract extension through 2030), recently appeared on the Dan Patrick Show.
When Saban was asked about the preseason poll, he responded by saying, “I don’t think that really it matters much where you start the season, it’s much more important where you finish.”
That’s some good coachspeak, but he’s exactly right. Last year Alabama was also ranked first in the preseason top 25 but finished the season as #2 after losing in the College Football Playoff National Championship. Meanwhile, Georgia began the season ranked 4th, but went on to win the National Championship.
It’s nice to start the season ranked on top because it means you have a great opportunity for a winning year, but ultimately, coaches want their teams to get better as the season goes along and play their best football at the end and finish strong.
When we unpack Saban’s quote, “I don’t think that really it matters much where you start the season, it’s much more important where you finish,” I think it also rings true from a life and faith perspective.
Many of us have been blessed with a great start to life or in a position “on top of the rankings” by growing up in a household of faith. But even when given an amazing opportunity for a “winning” Christ-centered life, we still have to make our faith our own and live it out from start to finish.
Even if we have a solid start by hearing about Jesus and going to church, it doesn’t guarantee we won’t drift away from the faith, in the end. We must have a deep personal faith in Jesus in order to persevere, finish strong, and be like the people described in Hebrews 10:39 (AMP):
“But our way is not that of those who shrink back to destruction, but [we are] of those who believe [relying on God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by this confident faith preserve the soul.”
On the other hand, if we start life “low in the rankings,” in a family that provides minimal advantages or opportunities for having exposure to who Jesus is, let’s be encouraged that where we finish is much more important.
We may have gone through early seasons of life that consisted of sinful decisions and mistakes, but again, it’s not where we start, but where we finish.
Regardless of our starting position in our faith journeys, when we meet Jesus we all start from a place of grace and He is the one who works in us and enables us to overcome, rise above, obey, and finish strong.
Thankfully as we follow Jesus and trust Him, He helps us get better as the “season” goes along and we grow to become more like Him each step of our journey. In the end, we’re at our best as we finish well, joining Him in eternity.
Today, let’s be mindful of the powerful assurance Paul gives us in Philippians 1:6 (AMP): “I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].”
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for Your grace. I thank you for the way You are working in me and for helping me grow. I pray I’d deepen my faith and dependence even more, so I can persevere and finish strong. I know I am a new creation because of Jesus and I’m relying on Him to help me move past who I used to be to become more and more like Him. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Discussion Questions for PACKS:
- What is your faith background and what do you remember as your starting point in your journey?
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How would you describe who you used to be vs. the changed person Jesus has made you into?
