This past weekend our guys won the state tournament in tennis. I’ve been a champion for less than forty-eight hours and I tell you it is not enough. There is a definite thrill in victory, but it only lasts a while. Pretty soon that accomplished goal fades and we realize why we need to be more than champions.
Perhaps Napoleon or Alexander the Great felt the same after their military exploits. If you conquer the world, what do you do next?
God knows each of us is in a war that transcends all that we see on earth. There is a war for our souls and God sent a Mighty Warrior to ensure victory. But the victory He gives goes far beyond any state championship or any military accomplishment. Jesus is more than a conqueror because He understands what it is all about. Sometimes I’m afraid we don’t have a clue. But every now and then we may get a glimpse of what is at stake. Oh for the courage to enter the battle without fear! Oh for the passion to risk all to follow the King! Oh for the willingness to look like a fool to the world, while knowing deep down that anything He requires will be worth it in the end.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot, the man who made this statement, gave his life in the steamy jungles of Ecuador as he attempted to take the gospel to the Auca tribe. But Jim Elliot is more than a conqueror and so are all who put their faith in Christ and pick up their cross to follow Him.
We are searching for a crown that will not fade. We are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. We are pursuing a Savior who will not fail us. And nothing can ever separate us from His love.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39