Losers Wanted

I drove by the local Taco Bell/KFC restaurant last week and saw this sign out front on the marquee:


LOSERS WANTED

I laughed out loud. Hey, how many people are going to apply for that job? "Yeh, um, I'm here to apply for a job." Manager says, "Counter help? Grill?"

"Um, well, I saw on your sign you need losers."


All right. I got a quick laugh out of a simple missing "C" from a word. But in a moment I was so glad that God called me when I was yet a loser. (Albeit the Bible says, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died....") I made a quick connection and said, "God, I was lost in my sin, my selfishness, my helplessless, and my hopelessness. But you didn't leave me there."

As I drove on, I pictured a runner in a marathon, wearing a paper number she received at the registration desk. She is psyched with enthusiasm, not knowing where the course will take her, but confident that someone has figured out where all the runners will go and where the finish line is.

Without paying the entrance fee, she couldn't have registered. Without registering, her name wouldn't have appeared in the book. Without her name in the book, she couldn't have gotten a number or participated in the race. She never would have heard the crowd cheer, or been refreshed at the water stations along the route. She would have had no chance of racing, let alone winning. She was a loser without the initial payment of the entrance fee.

Thank you, Jesus, for being all parts of my eternal race. You have planned the event, mapped out the course, invited me to run, written my name in your book, and paid the entrace fee. You also cheer me on, and have given me fellow runners to race with. You are my Living Water. You've given me ancestors to cheer me on from the finish line. I'm not a loser anymore. I am a winner, though I've not yet finished the course. I want to be a closer, and by your grace, I will finish well.