I have a long, unglorious history of entering and not winning contests. Sweepstakes, drawings, door prizes – you name it, I’ve lost it. I don’t buy lottery tickets, but if a contest requires no monetary investment and offers the chance of a good return, I might just enter. And I have … and have routinely come up empty.
But recently, I won. I came home one day and there was a message on my answering machine informing me that I had won the grand prize in a drawing at a local store. Wow – what a rush. I spent a whole evening imagining what the grand prize might be. Cash, I hoped.
The next day I went and picked up my prize. It was a very nice collection of music CDs and DVDs. No cash, but that’s okay – the thrill of victory was enough. I had finally won.
I guess it’s not literally true that I’ve NEVER won any of these kinds of contests before. When I was a kid, I entered a drawing advertised on the “Popeye & Janie Show.” A few weeks later, I received a prize in the mail – lots of packages of some kind of fruity drink mix — Rootin’ Tootin’ Raspberry being the most memorable of the flavors, as I recall it these 40 years later. As a six-year-old kid, I basked in the glow of unearned wealth for days.
Oh, there have been other “free” prizes I’ve collected over the years, most notably the kind you receive if you are willing to waste hours of your life touring timeshare resorts. We have an assortment of very tarnished “gold” eating utensils and a useless camera that we received on two such trips. The “resorts” looked like trailer parks situated on muddy ponds, so we snagged our “prize” and got out of Dodge. We even managed to resist the pressure when, after telling the salesman that we should not, could not, would not, invest in his little slice of paradise, he brought in Slick Vinny to apply a little additional sales pressure. But Vinny couldn’t crack us – we had come for the free prize and that’s all we were leaving with.
Truly free prizes are hard to come by in this world. Most, like the timeshare deals, come with strings attached.
When the recent call came that I’d won the grand prize at the store, I enjoyed the feeling it gave me. It also made me realize that I don’t have to win earthly contests to enjoy that unearned euphoria. I can awaken every day of my life with that same feeling.
In fact, maybe I should call my own answering machine – or yours — from time to time just to leave this message: “Hey — I’ve got some great news for you – you have won God’s grand prize. And here’s just a sample of the things included in your prize: peace, joy, righteousness, love, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, fellowship, hope, self-control, wisdom, purpose, eternal life, and a perfect future in a perfect place. Just come to God and receive your free gifts. Oh, by the way, if you don’t remember entering, that’s okay. Jesus won these things for you and if you give your life to Him, you get to share in His winnings. It’s all yours – but you do have to come and claim it. Congratulations and have a great day!”
There’s an eternal grand prize with my name on it – and yours too. It’s a deal too good to pass up … so why do so many people turn their backs on it?
“I’ll get right with God one of these days … I don’t believe it – it’s too good to be true … I don’t want to feel indebted to anyone, including Jesus.”
Hey, if you ask me, there are no good reasons for leaving God’s treasure unclaimed. Forget the rinky-dink prizes this world has to offer – drink mixes, tarnished eating utensils, and cameras that don’t work. I want the real thing, the sure thing, the eternal Powerball fortune found only in Jesus Christ.
As the Apostle Paul said, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14).
How about you?