The Fans That Missed the Victory

It was game six of the NBA finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat.  The Heat were playing at home and the Spurs were leading the series 3-2, meaning one more win would crown them as the 2013 NBA champions.  With 28 seconds left in the game, a spurs player stole a pass and got fouled at the other end.  After shooting the free throws the spurs had a 5-point lead, typically enough to secure the win.  This deficit was enough for thousands of fans to throw in the towel and try to beat the traffic.

Almost as soon as the fans stepped out of the arena, the Miami Heat sparked an amazing comeback.  With only seconds to go, the Heat dropped an incredible 3-point shot to tie the game and send it to overtime.  Meanwhile, the fans that left quickly caught wind of what was happening inside and tired to get back to their seats.  These fans were met with a team of security guards and the hard and fast rule marked with big read letters, “No re-entry allowed.”

The Heat went on to win the game 103-100 in overtime.  Players, coaches, and broadcasters all shared the view that this was one of the greatest and most exciting games.  As for the fans that decided to leave early, they missed this great victory.

In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus told a parable with surprising parallels to this game.  The parable is about ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of the virgins came prepared with enough oil and five did not.  The virgins who did not have enough oil had to leave early to go buy more.  While they were gone, the bridegroom came and let the prepared virgins in and closed the door.  When the unprepared virgins came back they begged to get in but it was too late.  The point of the parable was to warn people to be ready for Christ’s return because

In both of these situations, people missed out on the celebration because of poor choices.  As Christians, we want to stand in victory with the Lord.  Therefore, let’s remember two lessons from these situations.

1. Always Be Prepared.  We don’t know what the future holds (even in silly basketball games).  Depending on which comes first, Jesus or death, many people will be caught off guard (Matthew 25:13; 24:42, 44).  We must always be prepared.

2. Never Leave Early.  Don’t leave the faith.  Only those who are faithful until the end will receive the crown of victory (Revelation 2:10).

Let’s not be among those who miss out on the victory because we left early or because we weren’t prepared.

Pregnant, Due, and Still Waiting

Today my expecting wife reached 40 weeks and 2 days.  Even though she is only 2 days past the due date, we have been expecting our baby boy to come for weeks now.  The medical professionals said that Julie would likely go into labor weeks before her actual due date.  So, for about 3-4 weeks, we have been expecting our boy to come “any day now.”  But, obviously here we are, still waiting.  Since all of this has been at the forefront of my mind, it has been difficult to concentrate on much else, hence this article.

With our little boy due to make his arrival at any moment, it has been essential that we are completely prepared.  We have bags packed and sitting by the door.  We have his room all set up.  We have the car seats installed.  We have cleared our calendar.  We have generous people ready to drop everything at a moments notice to come help with our daughter.  This weekend I even had to cancel a commitment that would have taken me an hour outside of town.  While we don’t know when our baby boy will come, we know for sure that eventually he will come.

It is amazing how similar this is to Christ.  We know for sure that Christ is coming (Matthew 24:36, 42-44; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3).  Are our spiritual bags packed?  Are we completely prepared to meet with the Lord?  We have been given plenty of time to prepare so there is no excuse not to be ready.  On that day we will hear one of two answers.  If we are prepared, we will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23).  If we are not ready, we will hear, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).

We know Jesus is coming.  It could be today or tomorrow.  This leaves one last question, “Are you ready?”