March 9, 2015 - Enjoy the game while it lasts!

It’s that time of year again… March MADness! I always get excited for the basketball tourney with the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” Every team is being analyzed based not only based upon wins and losses but also on how the “experts” feel they are currently playing. Even a team that is undefeated like Kentucky has its skeptics. People wonder if it would be better for them to lose before the big tournament in order to reignite a fire in them (in other words to avoid complacency and coming out flat in a game.) The reality is that in the March Madness tournament a team has to come out ready to roll every game; there is no time for a letdown; there is little room for tightening up and playing scared; the players have to be “all in!” Because the reality is in the tourney format it is one and done if you lose… season over. So players need to approach each game with a love and passion… and enjoy each game while it lasts. (The reality is that even the team that cuts down the nets has its season end at that point.)

That’s the way I want to “play the game of life”… “ALL IN!” I want to live each day as though it is my last day to “play!”

Ecclesiastes 9 talks about those that live with no purpose and no hope in this crazy thing called life; it calls the way they live “madness.” The chapter reminds us that “life” happens to all of us (“the righteous or the wicked”) but not all have to view life the same.

I love the fact that there is a hope of a life of joy in the midst of the chaos… that we can “play” for the love of the game…

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might;…

I love a couple of lines in the Message paraphrase! It reads in verses 7-10:

(“Seize life!”), (“Each day is God’s gift”), (“Make the most of each one!”), and (“Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!”)

The lost world lives in “madness” but we challenge you to live a life of MADness - Making A Difference each day! Be in the right place, doing the right thing, at the right time!

Let’s make March an incredible month!!!