Penny and I like to take “the road less traveled”. Unfortunately, wherever one lives on the South Shore, one is near Rout 3. It is a necessary, but very noisy, road.
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 1012; Luke 9:3762
Many who are first will be last. Matthew 19:30
Perhaps the most preposterous, spellbinding moment in the 2018 Winter Olympics was when the Czech Republics world champion snowboarder Ester Ledecka won an event in a completely different sport: skiing! And she took the first-place gold medal even though she had the unenviable position of skiing 26tha feat believed to be basically impossible.
Amazingly, Ledecka qualified to race the womens super-Gan event that combines downhill skiing with a slalom course. After she won by .01 of a second on borrowed skis, she was just as shocked as the media and other contestants who had assumed the winner would be one of the top skiers.
This is how the world works. We assume the winners will keep winning while all the others will lose. It was a jolt, then, when the disciples heard Jesus say how hard [it is] for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23). Jesus turned everything upside down. How could being rich (a winner) offer a roadblock? Apparently, if we trust in what we have (what we can do, who we are), then its not only hard but actually impossible to trust God.
The kingdom of God doesnt play by our rules. Many who are first, Jesus says, will be last, and many who are last will be first (v. 30). And, whether youre first or last, everything we receive is purely by graceby Gods unmerited favor.
Consider how you view people, or how you view your own life. How does Jesuss way of seeing so-called losers and winners change your perspective?