First Quarter Score

Just the other day my family and I were watching the Mavs play basketball. I don’t remember who they were playing, but it was a game that I was interesting in watching. If you have been keeping track of the team you know they are having a rollercoaster type season so far. The team will do great one night then not so great the next night. Or one or two players will have a good game while others slump for a game or two or twenty. Overall the team is doing fine, but it is just not up to the level of play that you want from the defending champions.
Well this game was a terrible game in the first quarter. Dirk was off of his game missing his first four or five shots and committing a foul. It seemed as if everyone was out of sync and the ball was just not going to bounce our way. I hate to admit this, but I gave up and I turned to another channel thinking that the game was lost and there was no chance of winning the game.
The next morning as I was checking the scores I was surprised to discover that the Mavs had pulled out a win and not just a win a pretty impressive victory. In reading about the game I discovered that it was a game that I would have loved to have seen. Dirk got hot and the defense was amazing down the stretch. It was one of those games where the team was just determined to fight through the struggles of the first half and tough out a win on the road. I gave up on the team in the first quarter, deemed the game a loss and missed an amazing come from behind victory.
Some people reading this story have done the same thing in their life except it is not a game. You have given up on your marriage, you have given up on your children, you have given up finding a job, you have given up on improving your work relationships, you have given up overcoming a bad habit or an addiction, you have given up on building relationships at church, you have given up on God, you have ….given up …. and in your mind you are a loser in the game of life.
Guess what! It is just the first quarter! God has an amazing ending planned for your life and you are a winner. Not just a winner, a grand prize winner! Not just a grand prize winner, a grand prize all expenses paid for the rest of your life winner! That’s right, the one who created the game of life has arranged for you to win it all.
You see the reality is this, you were created to be a winner, but at some point you bought into Satan’s plan for your life and that’s when the losing began. It may not have seemed like you were a loser, but you were. Everything that Satan said would bring your happiness and joy and success …well all that was a lie. True happiness is only found when you and I play the game of life by the rules given to us by the one who created the game. There may be ups and downs, but in the end you are a winner.
God has an amazing life for you. All you have to do is claim it. Really! So walk tall. Keep your head up. Live like a grand prize all expenses paid winner!
Love God. Go Love Others.