Tickets, Please!

If you've ever been around me for any length of time, chances are that you have found out that I am a die-hard University of North Carolina basketball fan. I catch almost every game either on TV or on the radio. Recently, the UNC Tar Heels played in the ACC tournament in downtown Atlanta, so I decided to try to go to one of the games.

As I drove down toward the stadium that Saturday, I knew there was only one thing standing between me and a seat inside the Georgia Dome to watch the game: a ticket. Without a ticket, I could not get into the game. It didn't matter how much I knew about the team or how badly I wanted to see them play, I had to have a valid ticket to gain entry to the game.

As I got close to the stadium, it was very easy to spot those who had tickets they wanted to sell. They would be standing on the street corners with their hands in the air, holding the tickets they wanted to get rid of. Usually, there was a small crowd gathered around them as well, as more and more people figured out that those holding the tickets had something they wanted. Eventually, I was able find some tickets and got in to watch all the action. But, had I not had that little piece of paper with some numbers and words printed on it, I would never have had a chance to walk through the doors of the Georgia Dome and into the event that I wanted so badly to see.

The verse that our group has chosen as its theme verse is John 3:3 - "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Much like trying to get into the basketball game without a ticket, the Bible says very clearly that, unless a person has experienced salvation through Jesus Christ, they have no hope of being giving eternal life and the glories of Heaven. It makes no difference how much they know about the Bible, or how badly they desire Heaven; without the salvation that Christ brought through His death on the cross, every one of us would be lost and headed for Hell.

But thanks be to God that He has provided that opportunity, that spiritual "ticket" to gain entry into Heaven and to receive eternal life. We must be careful, though, to never find ourselves thinking that all we need is to get that "ticket" and sit back and coast until we need to use it. Because of all the blessings that God has showered down upon us, we in turn have been given the responsibility to take His message of hope to those who do not know Christ as Savior.

We are to be like those ticket salesmen in that we should not be ashamed that we have the only way that people are going to get into Heaven. Once people see that we have what they need spiritually, then will we have the opportunity to share with them about the Lord. That is the main reason we exist as a youth group - to be a light and a witness in the world, one that would bring others to Him. And that is why John 3:3 is our theme verse: to remind us constantly of the task that God has put before us to reach our friends, family, and anyone else that we can for Christ.