Win or Lose One Detail at a Time

By Peter Lundell –

I live near a city that has two professional basketball teams that oddly share the same home arena. One consistently ranks around the top of the NBA. The other loses most games. I was privileged to go see one of these games. When the team came onto the court, they didn’t wear any winner or loser label, and as they played, they weren’t obviously better or worse than the visiting team. Both teams made some remarkable shots, and both teams missed and made mistakes.

One thing stood out from beginning to end. The game was won or lost one basket, one rebound, one small success or small mistake at a time. Neither team was lucky or unlucky. They simply did well or badly in particulars—the details that in themselves may have seemed insignificant but added up to make the difference between winning and losing. It took both individual and team effort. But the winning team and the not-so-winning team created their own win, their own loss one play at a time.

Our lives are full of plays. Every day we make hundreds of them. And they quietly add up to the legacy of our lives.

We get the good grade, win the contract, resist temptation, control our temper, work hard and reap our reward, trust God and live a life of faith—one detail at a time. We also get the bad grade, lose the contract, fall to temptation, lose our temper, get lazy and reap the consequence, fear what we face and don’t live by faith—one detail at a time.

Though life is rarely fair, and we all have advantages and disadvantages, the way we live each play of our lives determines the ultimate score we take into eternity.

I need to pay more attention to that. Do you?

PRAYER: Lord, teach me to conduct the particulars of my life with wisdom, faith, and submission to Your leading.

“Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people, because you know that you will receive your inheritance from the Lord as the reward. Serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24, NET).

Today’s devotion is by Peter Lundell, author of Prayer Power. A rising new voice on connecting with God, he is a pastor, Bible college teacher, and conference speaker. Visit him at www.PeterLundell.com for his inspirational “Connections” and free downloads of articles, parables, short stories, and book chapters.