I was dumping a bowlful of heart-healthy oats into my bowl the other morning when the advertising on the box caught my eye. “You could win the ultimate chance to do what you love!” the box promised.
Can life get even more thrilling, suggests that bright yellow box? An innocent visit to the website (to divulge your E-mail) and Somebody Somewhere could be off to the Stuff of Dreams. Like a custom trip anywhere in the US. A VIP trip to the Grand Canyon. Getting up close with a celebrity chef, race car driver, or movie stars.
Okay, true confessions. Contests have lured me. Whenever one offered a free trip to Hawaii, I dropped my name in the box. The black hole box. The-live-volcano-on-Hawaii-must-have-incinerated-my-entry box.
Yes, somebody else does win such contests. Yet my family has had the thrill of some small-potatoes contest. Our daughter won a hula hoop contest at the local grocery store and brought home a large picnic cooler. Our son’s artwork got him a black jacket emblazoned with “Dusty’s In and Out” (a local burger place) that he wore for most of grade school. We visited a motel open house and won a night in the bridal suite another motel of the same chain. There were restrictions, of course, which is why mom, dad and two grade-school kids enjoyed the suite on New Year’s eve in the middle of Eastern Washington’s barren sage brush country. The in-room hot tub was nice since it was snowing and bitter cold outside.
I think God smiles when He drops those surprises in our laps. But as I gulped down my cereal heart-helpers, I got to thinking about what might be my “ultimate experience.” When you get right down to it, there’s only one “ultimate experience” for those who call themselves “Christians.” A fellow named Paul, reduced to sitting in a filthy Roman prison on trumped-up charges, said it best:
“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8)
Someday, seeing Him in all His glory in Heaven, will be the ultimate experience. I’m convinced of that!
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