God's Coaching #68

God's Coaching #68

Tiger Williams spent much of his impressive NHL career on his backside. Then again, what did you expect from the league’s all-time leader in penalty minutes? At only 5 feet 11 inches and 190 pounds, Tiger certainly didn’t possess the typical build of a brawling enforcer. But that didn’t stop the Saskatchewan native from getting into countless on-ice fights. Tiger paid the price for his angry brawls. In his 14-year NHL career from 1974 to 1988, he led the league in penalty minutes three different seasons and finished his career with 3,966 penalty minutes, setting the league record. As of the 2010–2011 season, no active player was remotely close to his dubious mark.

Lost in all the hostility was the fact that Tiger was a pretty good left wing. He tallied 241 goals and 272 assists in his career and made the NHL All-Star Game in 1981, the same season he scored a career-high 35 goals. The following season, he helped lead the Vancouver Canucks on a surprising run to the Stanley Cup finals. But Tiger will always be most remembered as the player who was quite familiar with the “sin bin.”

What’s the Score?

Hockey fans can’t argue that Tiger didn’t deserve to spend all that time in the penalty box. His actions had consequences. But there was one man who paid a terrible penalty for countless sins that he never committed. That man is Jesus Christ.

According to the Bible, since the fall of man in Genesis, every human who has ever lived, including you, was born with a sin problem that deserves death and separation from God forever. God’s holiness and justice demands that someone must pay the penalty for our sins. It should have been us. But in his mercy, God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place. Jesus, who was without sin, endured God’s holy wrath on the cross for our sake. Jesus freely gave his life to pay the penalty for our sin. Now, through faith in him, we can receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God.

On the Ball

Memorize today’s verse below about Jesus paying the penalty we deserved with his perfect life. Thank you, Jesus!

Coach’s Comment

He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 1 John 2:2