March Madness

The month of March brings different images to different people. Some think of leprechauns and pots of gold. Some think of St. Patrick. Some remember being tortured as a child when they forgot to wear green and got pinched all day on the 17^th (that was me. Very rarely did I “luck” out and accidentally wear green on that day). Millions think of March Madness---the NCAA Men’s Division basketball championship. No, this article isn’t going to be about my bids for the year. Ok, admittedly, I don’t even know what a bid is, much less who mine would be on. But I did a little research on this championship in pursuit of something bigger: taking the chance that you get.

March Madness is held each year during the spring, and features 65 college basketball teams in the United States. The tournament was first developed by the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 1939. The NCAA took over the tournament the following season. The tournament has less famously been known as “The Big Dance.” The tournament is a single-elimination contest, thus, for success, it is essential that a team be “on their best game” at all times. There is no making up for a loss. Teams have one chance, and they either make it or break it. One team inevitably walks away the champion. They took everything that they had, they stayed focused, and they finished victoriously.

Ok, I’m going to diverge from the basketball analogy for a little bit to more familiar territory for me. But hold on, I promise I will make the connection!

I love music. I always have. My journals from the time I was 10 years old to now have been full of song lyrics that impacted me than my own pros. Even instrumental music has always moved me to the core. Something about music stirs life in me like nothing else. It’s as though someone reaches into the most central part of my soul and turns it inside out. I love it, but I can no way effectively describe it. Jon Foreman’s lyrics are probably the most common in my journals. He conjures up poetry that I could only hope to compose myself. In one of his recent releases with Switchfoot, Jon sings, “It’s no accident we’re here tonight; we are once in a lifetime.”

Stop.

Take that in.

It’s no accident you are here. It’s no accident that you are right where you are. It’s no accident that you ARE at all.

YOU are once in a lifetime. This is your life, and it’s your one chance.

There’s the connection I promised I’d make. Like March Madness, you have one chance to make your life count. The Bible tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are unique individuals that happen once in a lifetime. You are the only YOU this world will ever have. Granted, your one chance is (God-willing) composed of many days. There are failures. There are wins. Thus, unlike March Madness, if you lose one day, you are not destined to lose it all. In fact, that’s the beauty of salvation! Christ came to redeem your loss! Selah.

However, while “every breath is a second chance” (another Jon Foreman lyric), each “win” moves us to the next level. As we daily choose to live as a champion, a winner, and a victor under the direction of our Great Coach, we move to the next level. We must take the day-to-day opportunities that we have and play well in order to move forward. In Luke 16:10, Jesus says, “He who is faithful in little will be faithful with much.” Each opportunity is a new round. How are YOU playing? How did you handle that student on the phone? How did you react to that unexpected bill? How did you treat that person in the grocery store line? How did you help your colleague? Each little opportunity is part of your great, once in a lifetime life. This month’s challenge is to evaluate your lifelong championship. Are you taking what you have been given and running hard with it? If not, it’s not too late to start! Run Hard. Love Strong. Stay focused, and live victoriously.