I once heard of a man named Scott who calls himself a professional gate-crasher—and with good reason. He claimed to have attended 300 sporting events and concerts, including 25 World Series baseball games, all without paying a single penny. In fact, he wrote a book that describes 50 ways to sneak into concerts and sporting events.

Scott’s gate-crashing raises all sorts of ethical questions, but let’s talk, instead, about a higher issue. Think about what it takes to get into Heaven. Jesus said there was only one way to get in: through Him (John 14:6). The “ticket” is having a personal faith in Jesus as your Savior, believing that He paid the penalty for your sin and accepting His offer of forgiveness as a gift (John 3:16; Romans 6:23).

Most cars don’t even travel 422.6 miles in three days, but that’s the very distance that a man named Gary Brasher did a few years ago on behalf of FCA by taking on three iron-distance triathlons in three consecutive days. I’ve run a few marathons in my life, but those were nothing! Gary Brasher took on a whole different level.

When Matt Barkley decided to attend and play football at the University of Southern California, visions of conference and national championships surely ran through his mind. But rather than seeing those dreams become reality, he was instead thrust into the role of the man who would lead the cardinal and gold through the darkness of NCAA sanctions. Given the opportunity to transfer or pursue NFL stardom, Barkley instead chose to remain at Southern Cal and now, in the midst of his senior season, he’s rewriting the Pac-12 Conference and Trojan record books.
 

Cut from the team. Knee blows out senior year. Lost the state title. Playing time disappears. Your mistake costs the team a win. As a competitor, all these things are considered tough trials. Add to that academic pressure or conflict at home and you can feel overwhelmed.