Two-Minute Drill

Two-Minute Drill

In many sports, the last two minutes are packed with more intensity and urgency than the rest of the game combined. Players clash, pushing through injuries and exhaustion, leaving it all on the field. All the training and planning come down to what happens during those last crucial minutes. Fans, helpless onlookers, nervously hang on every tick of the clock. Players and coaches execute their plans because they came to win.

I believe that you and I, as Christians, are facing our own two-minute drill. No, I don’t have insider information that the world is about to end. But when I look at the current state of our world, I can’t help but wonder how much more God will tolerate. We are a self-indulgent generation, pushing the boundaries in every facet of life, forgetting the commands and blessings we were given. We’ve forgotten God, chasing after money, pleasure, fame, success, vanity, and a host of other worthless idols.

We’ve turned our children into self-entitled gods by serving their every want and desire, sacrificing our marriages and our relationship with our Creator. We look to the leaders of our nation as if they have our best interests at heart, believing their promises as if they will be fulfilled. But we all suffer from amnesia—or perhaps it’s willful ignorance—because none of this is new. Humanity has repeated the same mistakes time and time again. Different people, different countries, but the rise and fall have always followed the same pattern.

You don’t have to look hard to find a story about something evil being done in our midst. Love our neighbor? We’re more likely to destroy our neighbor publicly online for their overgrown grass or misbehaving children. Where I live, stopping at red lights has apparently become optional—just one example of how people lack any regard for anyone but themselves. On the global stage, God was mocked at the opening ceremony of the Olympics. And since the 1980s, it’s estimated there have been 1 billion abortions worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, 73 million abortions occur every year. How can we not look at God with awe and wonder at His unending grace and mercy? How can we not see how slow to anger He truly is? If I were the Creator, I would have wiped humanity off the planet long ago.

If you’re a Christian, it’s time to get your head in the game. It’s time to execute the plan we’ve been training for. It’s time to focus. It’s time to fight through the pain. It’s now or never. There’s no time to sit on the bench and weigh your options. You’re either for Him or against Him. We are living in the proving grounds, the AAA team before getting called up to the big leagues of Heaven. God wants to see who will submit to His authority and carry on the work Jesus came here to do. Contrary to popular belief, Heaven is not filled with “have-it-your-way” Christians. Heaven has one ruler and one law. It’s Hell that’s filled with anyone who wants to rule their own world.

It’s abundantly clear that our nation is being judged for abandoning God. He has given the unrighteous and ungodly over to pursue their passions to the darkest corners of their desires. Has it ever dawned on you that the people of Nineveh weren’t surprised when Jonah showed up on their doorstep after being spat out by a big fish? In fact, they all repented of their sins, saving all 120,000 of them. Do you know why they weren’t surprised? Because God had prepared them. They knew they were evil and unrighteous. That’s why Jonah wanted nothing to do with them. That’s why his sermon was only seven words long. They were fully aware that God was on His way to destroy their city. It only took a few hundred years more for the place to become desolate when, shockingly enough, a generation that completely forgot their history came around again, doing the same evil deeds. Sound familiar?

It’s scary to think that only 10% of church attendees, on average, are actually committed to following Jesus and obeying what the Bible commands. We’re supposed to be His light shining in the dark. When Jesus left earth, He gave us peace, and the Holy Spirit was sent to comfort us. We should be anchored in God’s sovereignty, not being tossed around like ships in a storm. Our peace, which surpasses understanding, is supposed to draw unbelievers to us. What example do we portray if we’re losing our minds over who’s going to get elected, whether the economy is going to crash, or what they’re poisoning us with now? I’m not saying we shouldn’t be engaged with current events, but we must have discernment. Remember, we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Listen, the world isn’t going to get better; it’s going to get worse. The masses are running from God, not to Him. Go read the book of Revelation if you think otherwise.

It’s high time we put down our phones and pick up the Bible. Start searching the scriptures, developing our spiritual gifts, serving the local church and community, and reaching the lost. The book has been written. The plays have been described. The two minutes have started, but the good news is Jesus has already overcome the world. We’ve already won.

To God be the glory.