What A Save!

It was sudden death overtime. The goalie was poised in his net. The fans in the stands were silent. The goalie's opponent began to skate towards him. A slapshot was made toward the upper corner of the net. Instinctively, the goalie's hand shot up and he fell backwards. His glove opened and the puck was there, safe.

Death can come suddenly. It came one cold November night to my brother, Timothy. Tim was a prized goaltender and wonderful Christian. A former camper and counsellor with Hockey Ministries International, Tim learned at a young age that through Jesus we can have the ultimate shutout. Sin and death are shut out of our lives forever. As a teammate takes a penalty for his goalie in a hockey game, Jesus accepted the penalty for our sin when He died on the cross.

Tim died suddenly in a car accident last year at the age of twenty-seven. I thought we would never survive. The pain was so intense, and we questioned why God would take such a good person from us. But God helped us get through our pain, one day at a time. We felt the prayers and love from other people. One thing that made us feel better was that we were certain that Tim was in heaven. When Tim accepted Jesus as his Saviour, he was about twelve years old.

One might think that one has all the time in the world to think about life and death. If sudden death took you by surprise, would you be ready? Is Jesus your teammate? It's never too early to think about it. Jesus himself was very young when he died. Let us each make sure we are on his winning team. It's a matter of life and death!

John 3:17 – For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (NIV)

Prayer: We thank you, Lord, that when we place our "puck", our life, to be caught in Your everlasting hand, we can truly say, "What a save!" — saved from sin, guilt, death. Praise Your name! Amen.