The Lurking Danger

At this stage of the NFL regular season, it may come as a surprise to learn that the team with the best record in the league is currently the Denver Broncos.

Denver improved its record to 8-2 on Thursday evening despite a relatively unimpressive performance in its 10-7 victory over the lowly Las Vegas Raiders.

In victory, Denver barely topped 200 yards of total offense, while quarterback Bo Nix threw two interceptions that nearly proved costly for his team.

Ultimately, you could say that Thursday's performance was a bit of a microcosm of the Broncos' season as a whole. More than halfway through the regular season, Denver's elite defense ranks second in the league in total defense and third in scoring defense.

On the flip side, the offense is stuck in the middle of the pack in both categories (15th in total offense and 17th in scoring offense).

The three-point win over the Raiders is far from the first time that the Denver defense has carried the team to a narrow victory in a low-scoring game against low-level competition.

In its previous game, Denver narrowly escaped the 3-5 Houston Texans, triumphing 18-15.  A few weeks prior, the Broncos beat the one-win New York Jets 13-11.

There's no denying that Denver is a good team. The Broncos have an elite defense and have shown a propensity to win close contests. However, everyone seems to recognize that this level of success isn’t sustainable unless the offense begins to produce more consistently.

Sure, the team could say, “Hey, we’re winning games, we’re fine,” and not take the underlying concerns on offense seriously. Thankfully, that’s not the perspective of their quarterback, as he’s not overlooking the issues.

Following the victory, Nix commented to reporters, "Yeah, we've got to do better. At some point, 10 points ain't going to be enough. We've got to score more...we've got to find some juice somewhere."

I appreciate that Denver's signal caller sees the writing on the wall and understands potential consequences if the offensive struggles aren’t addressed.  Sure, the team is winning right now, but that success will very quickly turn into failure if the unit doesn't make some significant changes.

As followers of Jesus, we can also be lulled into a false sense of being “fine” when we feel we’re having "success" in certain areas.

For example, when we feel we’re succeeding in fighting a particular sin, we might be tempted to let our guard down or overlook lurking dangers or warning signs. If we think we’re fine and don’t take the underlying concerns seriously, it ultimately won't be too long before it all catches up with us, and our successes quickly turn to failures.

James 1:14-15 (ESV) vividly describes the progression that sin often takes in someone's life: "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."

When we have ungodly desires in our hearts, we may still believe we're having "success" as long as we don't act on them. However, if we fail to address the problem at its root by dealing with the issues of our hearts, it’s only a matter of time before we experience greater failures.

Proverbs 27:12 (NLT) says, "A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."

We might feel like we’re doing a good job of resisting temptation. Yet, if we foolishly put ourselves in danger by making poor choices that increase our exposure, we’ll eventually suffer the consequences. 

The key is that we shouldn’t wait until we see obvious outward manifestations of our failures before we start dealing with the problems. The moment we see signs that something may be amiss, we need to act immediately to rectify the situation as the Bible prescribes.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NASB) states, "We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." 

Just as the Broncos don't want to wait until their lack of offensive production comes back to bite them, we shouldn’t wait until we start failing and suffering in serious ways before we address the heart issues that lead to sin.

Today, let's be sensitive to any danger that may be lurking. Let's carefully reflect on any ungodly thoughts or desires we may need to address, and on any changes we may need to make to our lifestyle to more wisely avoid preventable temptation.

As we do so, may God grant us ever-increasing victory in our battle against sin as we rely on Him. I'm Matt Osborne, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that You have given me the Holy Spirit to convict me when I sin. Please help me recognize any changes I might need to make now so I can live a godly life moving forward. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.