As a good staff member, I wrote my devotionals after the due date. So I had the pleasure of watching the Eagles battle to win their first every Super Bowl trophy. Many had come to talk about the clash between the Eagles and the Patriots as a “David vs. Goliath” game. And boy was it a battle to the very end. I enjoy watching football games that are back and forth, down to the wire, and where the last play could change everything. That kind of competition is fun to witness. (Especially when the team I am rooting for wins!)

 

 

Another comparison was to “Rocky vs. Apollo Creed.” Great movie. This movie had the underdog vs. the experienced in which the first meeting Rocky just couldn’t do it. But he battles back to take the victory over his opponent eventually. This underdog story line is one that we love to see. I mean seriously, unless you are a fan of the giant, we like to see the little guy win. Even in life we like to see the small business succeed over the monopoly. We like to see the unlikely, picked on kid become something greater than their detractors might have guessed. It is an ideal that anybody can beat anything they put their mind to; no matter how big or far fetched the obstacle might be.

 

 

This underdog mentality and the search for that elusive Victory always brings me back to the story of Jesus. The Israelites were searching and waiting for their messiah, their king, to come and win the battle and be victorious over their Roman oppressors. They were the underdogs and wanted saved. The hoped for this even longer than Eagle fans have been hoping for a Lombardi trophy. Yet, Jesus didn’t come back as the conquering king they had hoped for. He came in an unassuming way as a child, walked the earth in a way that was not like royalty, and willing submitted to death on the cross for the people He came to save. This was not the ending they had hoped for. From their perspective Jesus lost the battle.

 

 

But we have the knowledge to know the story didn’t stop there. That defeated underdog wasn’t really and underdog at all. He had control the whole time. Yes, he willing submitted to death on the cross, but only so that he could have the Victory over sin and death in a way no one else could. He rose from the dead on the third day. And in doing so, saved us from defeat we all had coming at the end of our lives. It is because of His Victory that we have victory too. We aren’t just spectators watching someone else get the trophy. If we choose to believe and follow him we share that victory with Him.

 

 

I enjoy a hard fought football game. I enjoy good movies like Rocky. Because of my enjoyment in those things I like to talk about them. I couldn’t hold in my excitement when the Eagles won the game. But my final challenge is taken from the many of the players and coaches of that team. They just won the highest achievement in the NFL and yet the first things out of many of their mouths on national television was a gratefulness and thankful heart towards their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our earthly victories are great, but our focus is out of whack if we are not putting our heavenly victory first. Jesus is far greater than any prize we could win on this earth. Do those around you know about Him? What can you do to change that?

 

 

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:57

 

–  Pastor Josh Trojak