Yellow Flags

College Bowl season is a great time of year, particularly when you get lucky on a bunch of your picks and are in line to win the office pick 'em contest.

Occasionally I find myself contemplating buying a couple of the yellow flags that football officials use to signal penalties during the game to carry around with me. Think about all the uses you could have for these.

Someone cuts you off in traffic, pelt them with the flag. "Offsides, on the brilliant driver of the blue car, 3 honks and an angry wave will be assessed from the spot of the foul for the next 2 miles."

Someone takes 46 items to the express checkout, in comes the flag. "Illegal formation, on the self-absorbed guy. Twelve angry stares and three muffled comments while he checks out followed by openly derogatory comments once he is gone."

Someone exhibits a complete inability to use the English language (and I'm talking about native English speakers here), flag on the play. "Personal foul, roughing the language. Six months of grammar school, do not repeat that sentence."

I'm just thinking this could be a fun way to point out everyone else's flaws and mistakes.

Thankfully life doesn't really work like that and more importantly God doesn't treat us that way. Rather than publicly humiliate us for the mistakes we've made, He sent His Son to die on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. The Bible tells us that rather than throw the penalty flag every time we fail He forgives us if we ask Him to and our faith is in Jesus. Even better, once He forgives it is forgotten. If only I could learn to be that gracious to others. Maybe I'll put my yellow flag idea back on the shelf for now.