Here at the end of June with temperatures soaring to nearly 100 degrees, it’s hard to believe the National Hockey League just wrapped up its season last week. Last Tuesday, the Florida Panthers skated to victory over the Edmonton Oilers to clinch their second consecutive Stanley Cup! They defeated their opponents in six contests with Right Wing Sam Reinhart scoring four goals in the final game to seal the deal.
Few people are as familiar with Reinhart, however, as they are with Washington Capitals’ Left Wing Alexander Ovechkin who also had quite a season this year breaking the long-held record for all time hockey goals. On April 6, Ovechkin scored his 895th goal pushing him ahead of Wayne Gretzky who held that record for 21 years. In spite of Ovechkin’s record-breaking score, his team lost that game to the New York Islanders and were later eliminated from Cup competition. Nevertheless, his final achievement of 897 pucks-in-the-net plus 72 in the playoffs is quite a feat and his career is not yet over.
Another hockey player who is even less well-known than either of these stars is Martin Brodeur whose hockey career spanned from 1991 to 2015. Brodeur played goalie for the New Jersey Devils and the St. Louis Blues and holds what some consider to be an even more impressive record than Ovechkin. Martin has 28,928 saves! Nearly 30 times Ovechkin’s goals. While everyone is so taken with goals scored, it would mean nothing without goals prevented as illustrated by Ovechkin’s recent non-Cup season with the Capitals.
Many sports are similar, in that offensive players get more glory, praise, and often more money for their touchdowns, homeruns, and dunks while defensive players are comparatively neglected. Many fans know that Tom Brady holds most passing records, but far fewer know that Ray Lewis has more tackles than anyone else in NFL history.
Every coach comprehends the importance of playing both effective offense and defense. And followers of Jesus should understand this also. Many times we seek to advance Christ’s kingdom with evangelism while failing to guard our rear flank from the devil’s attacks. In 2 Corinthians 2:11, the Apostle Paul warns believers of being outwitted by Satan, “for we are not unaware of his schemes.”
Sadly, it seems we often are unaware of Satan’s strategies, or even that he exists at all. Many don’t believe in a real devil anymore even though Jesus warned us of him repeatedly. Our Savior went toe to toe with this formidable adversary in Gethsemane’s Garden and emerged from the tomb victorious over him on Resurrection Morning. Although this enemy has been defeated, he is not yet destroyed and continues to, like the man in the Allstate commercials, cause mayhem in whatever way he can.
The key difference is that Satan is real and his agenda consists of the same three objectives every single day: steal, kill, and destroy. It’s much more serious than a humorous advertisement or even an intense hockey game. His temptations have eternal consequences and can bring about difficulty, defeat, and depression.
We must be careful not to leave our goal untended. While advancing to take territory for Jesus, we must don God’s armor even as hockey goalies suit up before each game. While Gretzky played in 1487 games, Ovechkin in 1491, and Brodeur in only 1,266, each day is another battle on the ice for each of us and we must be constantly prepared.
Thankfully, we’re not alone, for Jesus is not only our Coach, but our Savior, Lord, and Protector. In addition, the Holy Spirit resides within and our brothers and sisters in the church skate with us as teammates in our daily struggles. It’s also a joy to celebrate victories together when we’re triumphant over temptation and division.
As we reflect on the all-time hockey greats, may they remind us of our game of life and to be sure to play both offense and defense. Blessings, George