Week 45 Bible Reading: Colossians 1:9–14

In [Jesus] we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. - Colossians 1:14

It was New Year’s Day 1929. The University of California at Berkeley was playing Georgia Tech in college football’s Rose Bowl. Roy Riegels, a California defender, recovered a Georgia Tech fumble, turned, and scampered sixty-five yards in the wrong direction! One of Roy's teammates tackled him just before he reached the wrong goal line. On the next play, Georgia Tech scored and went on to win.

From that day on, Riegels was saddled with the nickname “Wrong-way Riegels.” For years, whenever he was introduced, people would exclaim, “I know who you are! You’re the guy who ran the wrong way in the Rose Bowl!”

The stuff we do wrong isn’t known by the whole world, but we’ve all gone the wrong way, haven’t we? And sometimes it bothers us when we think about the stupid things we’ve done. If only we could forget that we lied to our parents—or whatever it was!

Good news! When we confess our sins and repent before God, He forgives our past and puts it away. In Christ, “we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”—all our sins (Colossians 1:14; 2:13).

Don’t go around kicking yourself about some dumb thing you’ve done. Ask for Jesus to forgive you—and then keep moving forward. The right way.

Did you know college football was played way back in 1929? Actually, the first college football game was played between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1869.