Victory

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Victory. Such a beautiful word, don’t you think? We use it so much, that I fear it has lost its zing in our life. We hear it chanted at sporting events. We see it plastered on church signs. I see it constantly, because it’s the name of the local church that I serve at. But have you ever really stopped to think about the depth of this word, Victory?
Last night I got the awesome chance to see victory firsthand. The occasion: Cabot High School vs. Jacksonville High School. The venue: War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The rivalry: priceless. And there we were – neighboring towns, hoping to leave that football stadium as winners. Both teams have the same team colors, so I jokingly told someone I was with that it was hard to know who to high five and who to kick in the shin. No, I wouldn’t have really done that (the kicking part, that is). It was just a joke. But nonetheless, it was hard to tell the two teams’ fans apart.
It was a tough game – interceptions, fumbles, bad ref calls (against Cabot, of course…lol). But when it was all said and done, the final score was Cabot 28, Jacksonville 14. The victory was ours. And we celebrated. And the ride home was light hearted and fun. And we were on the winning side.
And in life – the same principle is so very true. Followers of Christ, listen closely: it doesn’t matter how many times our passes might be intercepted and it doesn’t turn out like we imagined it would, or how many times we fumble the ball and make a mess of the life God has given us to live, or even if life throws us some “bad calls” and we just don’t feel we’re getting a fair shake: we are on the winning team!
As a matter of fact, we’ve already won! When Christ hung on the cross almost 2,000 years ago, some of His last words uttered were, “It is finished.” If ever there were a victory chant that’s worth remembering, it’s that one. “It is finished” means our debt has been paid, God’s judgment has been satisfied, our eternity has been purchased. “It is finished” is the touchdown of all touchdowns – the score of all scores! Jesus has taken care of the victory! And just in case there were any doubts as to Who the victory belonged to, He got up on the third day after being buried in a borrowed tomb! His resurrections screams VICTORY!
So today, here’s a challenge: look different from the other team. Let the world see you, living for Him, loving for Him, pointing people to Him, and let them immediately know that you’re on the winning team. Lift up your head! We are not defeated, we are the winners! And until Jesus comes back to take us home, let’s recruit as many for our eternal team as we can!

That’s just a thought, and I welcome yours!
Until next time,
Blake
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