Last night, CBS had the privilege of revealing this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament bracket.

At this point, the committee created the bracket and designed it based on what they thought was best, and then revealed it to everyone.

For the rest of the tournament, it’s not known how it will play out exactly, but we’ll follow game after game until the bracket is completed round by round.

As college basketball fans, we love tuning in to find out how the committee designed the bracket. They are the ones that determined which teams are in, where they’ll play first, what the matchups are, what seed each team is given, who the overall number one team is, and what they value most when putting the bracket together.

We anticipate selection Sunday because the final bracket is no longer a secret…and we realize that once it’s unveiled, the thrilling journey throughout the month of March begins.

The March Madness bracket reveal can also be used to remind us that God has revealed Himself and His will to the world through His creation, through Jesus, and His Word. He has designed this world based on what He knows is best and His plan to redeem people is not a secret.

Romans 1:20 (AMP) tells us, “Forever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense.”

Jesus says in John 6:40 (AMP), “For this is My Father’s will and purpose, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him [as Savior] will have eternal life, and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day.”

So are we tuning into His Spirit to know and understand what His “bracket” reveals?

1 Corinthians 2:9-13 (NLT) explains, “That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.’

“But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

“When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.”

We don’t know exactly how the rest of our lives will play out, but once we realize what God has revealed to us, we will willingly join Him on the thrilling journey of following Him day after day until His “bracket” is completed.

As Paul writes in Philippians 1:6 (AMP), “I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].”

I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing Yourself to me. I pray You would continue to reveal Your truth to me through Your Word. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who allows me to understand who You are and what You’ve done for me through Jesus. It’s in His name, I pray, Amen.

Discussion Questions for PACKS:

  1. How does reflecting on what God has already revealed to us about His will and plans, help us from day to day?

  2. What truth has the Holy Spirit recently revealed to you through Scripture?