“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14 King James Version)
It’s the month of March, the time of the year, as it relates to college basketball. It is known as March Madness. Yes, it’s the time of the year where multiple TV stations carry very competitive games, coached by great coaches, masterminds of what they call the “X’s” and the “O’s.”
I have heard some of the coaches being interviewed where they were asked if winning the championship was the goal they set for their team at the beginning of the year. The answers varied. Some said, “Of course! That’s always our goal.” Others said, “Our goal is to just make it in to the field selected to compete for the title.” One coach said, “No. We just play one game at a time trying to win that game. We don’t think ahead.” One more coach said, “We realize we are blessed every time we take the court.” I believe all of the teams, regardless of the broadcasted responses, are striving to do their best, pressing forward to be better the year before, even if they won it all.
As believers, we don’t have a time of the year called March Madness. No, we don’t have a specific month where we try to be better in living a life that Christ would say to us, “Well, done!” We have what I will call “Marching Madness”, and our season is for a lifetime. Listen! We filled out our brackets when we came to the Lord and were saved by grace by faith in Jesus. Every time we saw the opposition we would be paired against, we predicted the winner by writing, “The Lord.” To be fair, honest, and wholly transparent, sometimes we had failings, and we lost. Yet after having a talk with the Lord, after being fixed, meaning forgiven and cleansed, we went out to face the next opponent, be it a test, trial, trouble, temptation, or the most terrible situation one could face. Yes, we went out with the goal of not only winning the next game but securing the ultimate win in the final sense. We went out, committed to putting forth the effort to be awarded a crown at the end of this season, called life on earth. Again, we have failings, but we know we are not failures in Christ Jesus, so we stay determined to do better every day, every “next” confrontation with our opposition. Guess what? Every day includes today! The season is not over! The challenges to our claim to be more than conquerors will come! Sometimes we will be up, and as we used to say years ago, “sometimes we will be leveled to the ground.” But we keep striving to reach the goal, let’s call it the ultimate championship. Yet, as we strive, we keep praying the words found in a song I recall being sang in church during the 1980’s by the person who was not only the Superintendent of the Sunday School but was a member of the choir as well. I think I should pause and point out that we can do more than one thing for the Lord as we serve Him. Nevertheless, the words she sang, composed by Rev. James Cleveland were:
And if it takes all the worldly things from my life make
me better Lord (please make me better) make me better,
and if it means that I have a lot to sacrifice make me
better (please make me better) make me better.
And if it means sometimes, I have to fight with tear
stained eyes make me better Lord (please make me better)
make me better.
Even if it means sometimes that I falter when I try I’ll
get up and go on if you make me strong yea. Because I
want to give you my best and I’d only be hurting myself
if I tried to give you less.
And if it means sometimes that the road will get rough
make me better Lord (please make me better) yea make me
better.
Because I’ll go on just knowing that your grace will be
enough to make me better Lord (please make me better)
just make me better Lord.
Because I want to give you my best and I’d only be
hurting myself if I tried to give you less.
Let’s go out today during our ongoing Marching to Madness, knowing we are marching to Zion, that beautiful city of Zion. Be confident, knowing that our coach is with us all the way. He will never leave us or forsake us. My friend, have victory over victory today, starting right now! Be blessed!
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King