“And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” — Matthew 24:31
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There is a phrase that coaches use all the time: “Play till the whistle blows!” They are words of encouragement and motivation for players to keep going, to keep playing, to keep fighting until the last second. No matter how bad you feel, what the score is, or what the outcome will be, don’t quit. We play until the whistle blows. We dig deep, find that grit and grind it out. We give it all we have during the time we have to play. It’s worthless to have more to give after the game is over.
Today’s verse comes from the passage where Jesus is describing His return. Jesus is coming back for His church. He’s coming back for those who live in righteousness. There will be a loud trumpet call when Jesus returns.
I believe Jesus is telling us that we need to “play till the whistle blows!” We need to play this game called life with all that we have, until we hear the sound. Never giving up, never quitting. Give it all you’ve got every day, every hour. No matter what life throws at you — whether you’re winning or losing or if others are trying to pull you down — you need to keep going and moving forward until the trumpet blasts.
The difference between playing sports and life is that in sports you will have more opportunities. In life, you’re only given one chance. We need to make the best of it. What more can we do to live our lives to glorify Jesus? He’s the reason we exist.
We don’t know when our time will be, nor when the trumpet will blast. But we must continue to live our lives for Jesus. He is the best coach we can have, and He’s encouraging us to live fully until the trumpet blasts. He doesn’t want us to give up or give in, but to give everything we have while we still have a chance.
— Yen K. Duong
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