“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Romans 8:16-17 NKJV
There are two kinds of people in this world – those who believe that Michael Jordan is the basketball G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time), and those who believe LeBron James is. I am in the former camp. I admit that LeBron is a once-in-a-generation talent, and I enjoy watching him play. And honestly a big part of the reason I am not a fan is not even because of him, but it’s because of his fans and supporters. It’s long been known that when LeBron’s team wins, it’s because he’s the “greatest player on the planet.” But when his team loses, then he’s surrounded by scrubs and needs help. I never understand why he’s treated this way, when in actuality basketball is a team sport. So the team both wins and loses together.
This passage reminds us that we’re all a “team” of sorts. We’re all children of God, and we’re all heirs of God. And our teammates aren’t scrubs. In fact, we’re teammates, or joint heirs, with the Son of God Himself. Because we have this relationship, that means that we will be glorified together for eternity. That’s something to rejoice and be glad about indeed. However, many of us either fail to read the passage in its entirety or choose not to see everything it says. For, as we will share in Christ’s glory, we also share in His suffering. God never promised us a perfect life here on earth. In fact Jesus confirms that we WILL have troubles (John 16:33). But we can rest assured that we’re not playing golf out here. We’re never alone. And just as God is with us when we’re #winning, He’s also there when we feel like we’re losing. So where you stand on the MJ/LBJ debate is moot. It’s God who’s the true G.O.A.T. And He promised us the ultimate win – eternal life – if we keep pressing our way through it all.