| What a difference the number "one" can make. I'm sure you have watched heart-wrenching games that were won or lost by one point. I have experienced both sides of the coin. I have thrilled in victory over a last-second shot made, and I've dealt with pure agony as I watched my team fall just one point shy.
In my first year with the Houston Rockets, we advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals. We were two wins away from getting a chance to dethrone the World Champion Chicago Bulls.
I was injured at the time, so all I could do was watch with held breath as Game 6 against the Utah Jazz came down to the final seconds. We had a two-point lead, but Utah had the ball. The Jazz ran their out-of-bounds play, and All-Star point guard John Stockton broke free to get the ball. As the clock ticked away the final second, Stockton lofted a 3-pointer. The ball floated toward the basket, seemingly in slow motion.
A hush fell over the crowd. Much to our disbelief and disappointment, the ball hit nothing but thread.
As Utah celebrated, the city of Houston was stunned. You play a 48-minute game and it all comes down to one point. One point isn't much, but for us it was the difference between winning and losing. And it was the difference between advancing to the NBA Finals or going home.
We live in a world that doesn't like absolutes. I hear constantly how closed-minded Christians are because we believe that there is just one way to heaven.
The truth is that Jesus Himself said it. And the Bible is very clear and distinct about who God is. Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Ephesians 4:6 says, "There is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." The world tries to cloud our minds into thinking that there are many roads to heaven. But the Scriptures are clear: There is only one way to God, and that is through His Son Jesus Christ.
In one moment in time Jesus came to earth and changed the course of history. Because of what He did by dying as our sacrifice on the cross, we have a bridge to God.
What a difference one can make. The difference between winning and losing. And the difference between spending eternity in heaven with an all-loving God or spending eternity in agony separated from the One who created you.
Have you made the one decision that matters in life? Will you?
Reprinted with permission from Sports Spectrum magazine www.sportsspectrum.com
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