If you are a sports fan it is a fun time of year with college basketball’s tournament in full swing.\u00a0 This past weekend it tipped off and as usual provided a lot of excitement and craziness.\u00a0 There was one game in particular that caught my attention as I happened to be in the car and listening to it at the time.\u00a0 It was the game between Marquette and Davidson.\u00a0 Marquette was the favored team to win the game, but Davidson had played almost flawlessly.\u00a0 In fact Davidson had played 39 minutes (a regulation college game is 40 minutes) of basketball the way they needed to in order to win the game. With one minute left to go in the game Davidson was leading by 7 points and seemed certain to pull the upset.\u00a0 However, I wouldn’t be writing about them if they had held on for the final minute.\u00a0 Davidson missed several free throws that could have given them a larger lead and most likely guaranteed a win.\u00a0 Then all of the sudden Marquette hit two three point baskets to make it a one point game with only eight seconds to go.\u00a0 Time was still on Davidson’s side because all they had to do was get the ball in bounds and run out the clock.\u00a0 But the man who threw a pass threw it too far and it went out of bounds giving Marquette one last chance.\u00a0 If the previous 52 seconds had not been crazy what transpired next sure was.\u00a0 Marquette threw the ball in bounds and the guy dribbled right down the court and made a lay-up (the easiest shot in basketball).\u00a0 No one ha guarded him or tried to stop him, they basically let him score.\u00a0 The crowd went crazy and I saw pictures later that night of the Davidson team who looked stunned at what had just happened.<\/p>\n
It got me to thinking about finishing well.\u00a0 Sometimes we get to the end of a school year and we don’t finish as strong because we are ready for summer vacation.\u00a0 Sometimes when it is the day before vacation starts we don’t work as hard because we are thinking about our vacation.\u00a0 Sometimes as Christians when we have walked with Christ for a while, we take things for granted and we don’t do the things we know we should.\u00a0 The apostle Paul at the end of his life said this in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my<\/i> course, I have kept the faith.”\u00a0 We each have a race to run that is unique to us.\u00a0 God has certain plans for our life (Jer. 29:11) and our mission should be to run that race and accomplish those plans that God has for us.\u00a0 One time I heard someone ask a preacher who was getting ready to retire what his plans were.\u00a0 I will never forget his response.\u00a0 He said “I may be retiring from being a pastor, but I will never retire from being a Christian.”\u00a0 Until our last breath on earth, God has a plan for us and we need to pursue it with all we have.\u00a0 Don’t get to the end of your life and lose the lead in the last minute.\u00a0 Pursue Christ with every breath until you are out of breaths!<\/p>\n
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you are a sports fan it is a fun time of year with college basketball’s tournament in full swing.\u00a0 This past weekend it tipped off and as usual provided a lot of excitement and craziness.\u00a0 There was one game … Read More