Looking for a place to feel inspired and challenged? Like to share a smile or a laugh? Interested in becoming more familiar with Canadian writers who have a Christian worldview? We are writers who live in different parts of Canada, see life from a variety of perspectives, and write in a number of genres. We share the goal of wanting to entertain and inspire you to be all you can be with God's help.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
NHL Playoffs: This Is It - Boge
I love the NHL Playoffs. It reminds me about what it means to live for Jesus.
Every year the best teams in the league shoot it out for a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup. Whether you are first place or eighth, one thing is clear for every player who laces up for a game:
This is it.
They have to win. Now.
Especially when it comes to Game 7 or another elimination game, each team knows it is all on the line.
There are no more chances to come back and try this again.
That’s the big difference between the regular season and the playoffs. In the regular season you can afford to lose four out of seven games at any given time and still have an opportunity to make the playoffs. But in the post season – losing four games in a series means you go home.
Each player has to go hard. Every shift. Every race for the puck. Every pass. Every shot. They have to count. They have to go 100% full out without any thought of being able to rewind and redo something.
It’s like Christianity. Each day, each moment I have the opportunity to live for Christ. Surrendering to Him. Doing devotions. Surrendering to Christ. Loving my neighbor as myself. Sharing my faith. Serving Jesus.
Life is not an exhibition game. It’s not even the regular season. It’s playoffs.
This is the only shot at life on earth that I have.
I can’t come back and try this over again. This is it.
If I’m down 4-2 and I’m playing in game 7 in the visitor’s building with three minutes left in regulation – I can’t afford to complain or wish that I had it some other way or ask to try it again. I have to press on toward the goal.
Or if I’m playing at home and shellacking a team 5-0 with the crowd going crazy, I need to keep at it, keep looking up to avoid the hits, and press on to the next round.
The most passionate Christians are like the best teams in hockey. They don’t look back. They don’t coast. And winning (staying faithful) is everything. They know this is it.
Like a great player who gives it 100% every shift, it’s a reminder to me to live for Christ each day.
Paul is the author of The Urban Saint: The Charles Mulli Story and Father to the Fatherless: The Charles Mulli Story and the director of Among Thieves.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
Write Canada is more than a professional networking conference. It’s a safe place where beginning and intermediate writers can learn ...
-
Inspiration hardly strikes on an empty stomach. For this, and other reasons, writers must eat. And if you like minced beef (and you...
-
On Thanksgiving Sunday, our daughter and son-in-law blessed us with our first grandchild. My heart sings as I gaze in ...
-
Prediction, retrodiction, and malediction ... It's not even six a.m. here in EST, and already 230 people have visited the Post-Darwinist...
-
Recently, as an experienced writer, I was asked to participate in the evaluation of poetry. I felt ill equipped for the job but p...
-
by Rev Ed Hird One of the best loved Christmas Carols is the 146-year-old carol: Good King Wenceslas. In 1853, John Mason Neale chose Wences...
-
Hi from Denyse O’Leary on behalf of the Ottawa Christian Writers’ Fellowship, suggesting you join us April 2 if you are in the area, for al...
-
I'm writing this blog minutes before the clock strikes midnight. When you read it I will be collecting the final few memorie...
-
By Rev Ed Hird Worry, fear, and anger are the greatest disease-causers. They can literally eat us alive, from the inside out. The root of mo...
-
For years I’ve begged my husband to bring me mustard seeds, eager to lay eyes on the tiniest Black mustard seeds grown in Canada seeds ...
1 comment:
Great analogy and a clear challenge, Paul.
As one who knows regret for not having done certain things in life and Christian service better than he did, I appreciate the encouragement to press on. And by the amazing grace that has brought me safe thus far, I aspire to do just that.
Thank you.
Post a Comment