Pre-Victory

A number of years ago, the Orlando Magic were on a march to make their way to the Eastern Conference Championships. I must admit that I have always disliked sports fans who have decided to follow a team because of their success, but now that season, I become that person!

In order to connect, in my own small way, with a town that was obsessed with the Orlando Magic’s victory as the Eastern conference Champions and journey to the national championship, I decided to purchase a little Magic gear …specifically a baseball cap.

I headed down to Sports Authority on the Monday after the Magic’s final and victorious game of the series, only to find that they had sold of out of all Magic memorabilia. While I was impressed with the speed that they were able to get this merchandise on the shelves, I was also somewhat surprised at how quickly it was sold from the shelves. I struck up a conversation along these lines with the sales girl, who told me that they had actually been selling “Magic Conference Champions” gear since the Thursday – Three days before the Magic actually became Champions!

Adidas (the retailer of the caps) were confident enough of a Magic victory, two games before Magic clinched it…and they put their money where their mouth was.

It is interesting to me that as Christians, who through Christ has been promised - by a God who has never broken a promise -victory, that we do not celebrate our victory enough. We get so concerned with the struggles, defeats, and concerns of life that we forget how the ‘series’ ends. The writer of Hebrews (9:28) reminds us that we must be people who “eagerly await” the victory that Jesus has won for us.

I wish I could live more with the certainty of the victory that we have in Christ, even as the game of life continues. We celebrate that victory this Easter.

Live victoriously!