Play Through Your 💫: Finding Victory Through Our Champions

Hebrews 12:1 - New Living Translation

 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

At the time of writing this, the Lakers just dropped Game 2 of their playoff series to the Nuggets. To make it even worse, they were up by as much as 20 points and appeared to be well on their way to a blowout win.

For 3 quarters, they were in charge. The source of their dominant success for the first three quarters was that they played through one of their All-Pro players, Anthony Davis. Davis scored 32 points through three quarters, yet was held scoreless and only had one shot attempt in the fourth, when it mattered most.

We all know that in hoops, when you have a dominant star player, like Davis on your team, you initiate your offense through them, as it’s what perfects the flow and harmony of your offense. On the other hand, when the star player is not heavily involved, it decreases your chances to win, which was the case for the Lakers.

Late in the third quarter, Davis picked up his fourth foul and was benched to start the fourth, which is when the Lakers lost their offensive rhythm and the Nuggets began to get back in the game. When Davis re-entered, the Nuggets made a defensive adjustment which made it much more difficult for Davis to be the initiator, which was why they lost.

As we strive to live the life that God calls us to, we can learn from the Lakers' L, to ensure we do not take that same L! The lesson is to humble ourselves to know that the same way the Lakers' only chance to win was to play through their star players, we are no different.

We must take note of what’s mentioned in Hebrews 12:2. If we want to be champions, we must play through our Champ. When we keep our eyes on Jesus, our champion, we will win our races, and the reason being as stated in the verse is because He initiates and perfects the faith we need to overcome anything and everything that stands in our way!

In a sense, we have the faith to prevail, however, if we choose to not allow Jesus to be the focal point of our lives - keeping our eyes on Him no matter what, we will fall short just as the Lakers did.

Parting thoughts to hold on to:

Not every team has an All-Pro player to play through. Those that don’t, have no chance to win it all. On the other hand, those that are blessed to have a star on their squad have a chance, so long as they find a way to always initiate through them. Fortunately for us, we have a Star player, and our star player always delivers and is always available. Colossians 3:11 - New Living Translation - In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

The Bad News - Much like the Nuggets did, the enemy in our lives as we commit to living for Christ is going to constantly look to make adjustments to eliminate us. - John 10:10 - New Living Translation - The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

The Best News - It matters not what the enemy does, so long as we keep our eyes on Him, because much different than the Lakers, for us, the victory is already promised to us!!! - 1 John 4:4 - New Living Translation - But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

John 16:33 - New Living Translation - I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.