hockey

Last night I went to the season opener for the Canucks. As I was enjoying the game and chattin' with my Lord, suddenly He revealed to me such a clear picture on how hockey parallels life, specifically the Christian life. So I thought I would share it with all of you, hockey fans or not...

The home team would be Christians. The visitors team would be evil, such as satan or the flesh, basically the things we war against. And we are constantly battling them, although in the end, ultimately we will have the victory (unfortunately not always true in hockey, but in the Christian life, yes). Sometimes we get penalties, because we've done something that doesn't line up with the word of God and sometimes we score. The whole team is always working together (ideally), coming together in a bigger picture. Often we watch just one player, perhaps the one with the puck, but meanwhile the rest of the players are positioning themselves for the play. Crucial to have all the players there and in the place they're supposed to be-likewise with the body of Christ how we all have a role to play and need to be playing it!

Lots of other parallels, but the one thing that blew me away that God showed me was the cloud of witnesses. In Hebrews 12, the writer talks about the cloud of witnesses surrounding us, cheering us on. As I watched the fans and saw how excited they were and how supportive it was such an encouraging picture of what the cloud of witnesses around you and i is as we play in this game called life. They're doing the wave, they're cheering, they have signs and so on. Spurring us on to keep running towards Christ with our eyes fixed on Him. What a great picture and a wonderful reminder!