The story of this year’s March Madness mainly centered around the countless upsets and surprise teams that made deep runs. Before the tournament began, many people were discussing the state of college basketball and its parity and how there weren’t any truly great teams. It felt like anyone could win. At the same time, as we picked teams in our bracket, we were still putting our hopes in certain teams to deliver for us. Some analysts tried to convince us that number 1-seeded Purdue was great considering their regular season, but then they let everyone down by losing to a 16th-seeded FDU. Some people believed Alabama was great, but they lost earlier than expected after a disappointing performance against San Diego State. Once again, Gonzaga didn’t live up to the hype...Duke fell short...and Houston didn’t come through like the host city hoped it would. Kansas proved to be great last year as they won the championship but weren’t able to do it again this year. Meanwhile, 2 seeds Arizona, Marquette, and UCLA didn’t deliver as many expected. However, one team, UConn, revealed their greatness early in the tournament and continued to demonstrate just how amazing they are as they cut down the nets as National Champions on Monday night. Not many fans were aware of UConn’s greatness before the tournament, but round after round, the team convincingly separated itself from every opponent. Most of us picked other teams to win, but they kept disappointing us, while UConn’s greatness became more and more evident. By the end of Monday night, there was no denying they were the best team in the country and it wasn’t even close. No other team could compare to their elite scoring ability, size, and formidable defense. They were dominant and unstoppable as they reminded everyone how great the UConn program is and has been. According to CBSSPORTS.com, “UConn finishes the season with a 17-point win, giving it 17 wins on the season against non-Big East foes -- all of which came by double figures. In the process, it became the first team of the modern era to win all six NCAA Tournament games by at least a 13-point margin. "The win also gave UConn its fifth men's basketball national championship and improved it to 5-0 (!) in national championship game appearances. It helps the Huskies draw even with Duke and Indiana for the fourth-most all-time national championships with five and gives them the most this century, with four of their five coming since 2004.” Initially, we may have overlooked their greatness while our attention was on other teams, but as the tournament went on, everyone else let us down except for UConn. An important parallel for us to consider is how all too often we pick other things in life to focus on, to put our trust in, to deliver for us, and to believe they are great to have. Anything we determine as a "top seed" (money, power, sex, entertainment, sports, vacations, or pleasure) can become an idol if we aren’t careful because we think they're greater than they actually are. However, as we experience these idols, we quickly realize they don’t always live up to the hype, don’t deliver on expectations, let us down, and fall short of what we hoped they would do for us. Some of these things are temporarily great or maybe in the past they brought us some satisfaction, but in the end, they couldn’t hold up to being the “champion” of our life. Ultimately they are disappointments if we elevate them in a way they aren’t able to deliver. Thankfully, we can stop picking these idols and instead choose the One who is the best and the only One who is truly great…and always great. Psalm 145:3 (AMP) tells us, “Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable .” Psalm 96:4 (NLT) says, “Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods.” God’s greatness is undeniable and yet there are times we overlook Him and don’t recognize His matchless power and indescribable dominance over every other idol. He has separated Himself from every “thing” that we mistakenly think will satisfy and He’s the best in every way. It’s not even close! He is unstoppable and continues to remind us of how great He is and always has been. God says in Isaiah 42:8 (NLT), “I am the Lord; that is My name! I will not give My glory to anyone else, nor share My praise with carved idols.” Psalm 147:5 (AMP) declares, “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is inexhaustible .” The more we watched UConn, the more it became clear just how remarkable and unstoppable they truly are. Today, let’s be reminded that the more we turn our eyes toward God and get to know who He truly is, the more and more clear it becomes how remarkable and unstoppable He truly is. Nothing and no one can compare! I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that! PRAYER: Heavenly Father, forgive me for overlooking Your greatness and settling for lesser things that don’t fully satisfy me. I want to put my hope and trust in You and You alone because I know You always deliver and come through. You are worthy of my praise and my full attention. Thank you for allowing me to experience Your greatness. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR PACKS:
1. What idols have you found yourself chasing and then realizing they don’t deliver like you thought they would? 2. What comes to mind when you describe God’s greatness?
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