It's Not Over Till The Skinny Lady Sings!

I just watched a video on the internet about a high school football game that went back and forth with the lead changing several times. In the end, one team needed to score with moments on the clock to win the game. The field goal kicker tried his best, (remember this is high school football) and woefully missed the attempt. As the final seconds clicked off, the kick went up, missed the uprights and was caught by the opposing team. In their celebration of his missing the field goal, they ran out of the end zone (which meant the ball was still alive) onto the playing field and spiked the ball in victory celebration. The opposing team picked up the loose ball and ran it into the endzone for a touch down as the clock ticked down to 0 seconds. One team celebrated their victory too soon and the other team ended up with the victory!

I think this is going to happen in Christianity! Too many people are fighting a long hard fight with the opposition, but in the end they may celebrate their victory too soon, and may lose out all together. Jesus speaks in Matthew 24:10 that in the end many will be offended and walk away from their faith. Paul writes in I Timothy 4:1 that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits. In II Timothy 3:1-5 Paul writes that there will be form of godliness but a denying of its power. This is all taking place by people who give up at the end and celebrate their rights over God's goodness.

Stand firm to the end. The losing team above didn't stand firm to the end. They got sloppy as they thought about how good they were. They celebrated their goodness just a moment too early. Before you go around and tell people how good you are, or how much more spiritual you are than others around you, consider Romans 12:3-"Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought..." Think about it!