1470) I usually have recess duty during the school year and I rarely mind. I watch the kids as they interact and there is something I see regularly, under the basketball hoop. I often see teams being formed that are very uneven. The “better” players always want to team up and they soften this out-of-balance suggestion by telling the others they can have more players than them. Of course, as the game progresses, it’s clear the better players are outscoring the other team.

Sometimes I feel like I’m on the team that is disadvantaged. When I try to do the right thing. When I refuse to get even when I really want to. When I watch the news and see uncivil and outrageous behavior, it’s easy to conclude evil is winning.

It’s in times like these, when my heart is heavy, reading Revelation 7:17 is encouraging. It tells us at the end of the world, an immense crowd of God’s people will be gathered before his throne. It reveals there will be people from every nation, tribe, people and language. This will not be a small crowd.

No matter what it seems, there are people who are also obeying God, refusing to give in to temptation. These people are civil and gracious. You are not alone!

If you don’t know that you will be a member of this crowd gathered before God’s thrown at the end, you can. By confessing that you do wrong things, deserve to die but are humbly asking that God accept Jesus’ death in your place and then ask him to live in your heart. The second you do this, your name will be entered into the Lamb’s Book of Life. You will be part of this wondrous crowd.