Maxie was an outstanding athlete that had been born with the natural abilities to be an athletic success. Maxie loved the sport of basketball and her potential was virtually unlimited. Maxie played basketball all through her school years and people were amazed at how good she was. At a certain age Maxie was drafted to play basketball for a major WNBA team. Maxie eagerly accepted the offer knowing it was going to be a lot of work. God-given abilities would only take her so far and Maxie's knew much work and effort would be required. To become a starter on the team she had to dedicate herself to long hours of exercise, eating right, getting the right amount of sleep, staying hydrated and keeping focused on a very important upcoming game. As it was though, the date for the game had yet to be scheduled, leading Maxie to think there would be plenty of time to prepare just as soon as the date was determined.
One day Maxie was getting dressed after a workout and along came Coach Natas from the other team. Now Maxie was unaware that he was a coach for the opposing team and so she unwittingly began associations with him. After a time, Coach Natas tempted Maxie to join him in a week of festivals and parties. Maxie was having such fun that she decided to throw all caution to the wind. After all, they still didn't have a date set for that upcoming big game. It was with this thought that Maxie began to drift from her regime. She started to eat whatever she wanted, stay up late playing video games, dehydrate herself with alcohol and stop practicing - all the while unknowingly consorting with the enemy. She didn't pursue fellowship with the other players and she certainly didn't focus on that upcoming big game. She kept thinking there would be time later for getting herself back on track. Besides, Maxie figured that if the game did happen to get scheduled then her God-given talents would be enough to at least get her some playing time.
Suddenly and without notice the night of the big game did arrive! Apparently, as it turned out, Maxie's Coach had know the date and the time of the big game but had decided to not reveal it to the teammates to see which ones would stay dedicated to the finish. A test of sorts to see which teammates cherished their position as a teammate seriously by remaining focused on the game to come.
However, this hadn't been the outcome for Maxie and she reeled as the sudden impact of the situation hit her! Panic seemed to steal her heartbeat because she knew that she wasn't prepared. Slowly she entered the gym and took her spot with her other teammates before the Coach. She stood transfixed as she realized that while her natural abilities had kept her on the team as a team member, that the requirements for playing or even to just sit on the bench had, for her, not been met. She hadn't prepared for the big game but instead had lived for the moment, forfeiting any opportunity to have any playing time whatsoever in the big game.
As the Coach went through each of the team's members, separating the ones that had come prepared to play from the ones that hadn't, it became glaringly obvious that Maxie wasn't prepared. She was removed from the gym and sent out to the bus. As Maxie walked across the gym to leave she noticed the thrill of the players that had qualified and met the requirements to play for the Coach. Many of the teammates Maxie recognized and it was heartbreaking to have to now leave them! Maxie dreaded the thought of being separated from both them and the Coach that she loved. But it was too late for Maxie as she walked off to the bus.
That night there wasn't a star one in the sky and that darkness seemed to engulf Maxie as she sat in the back of the bus alone and wept. Through the streaked bus window Maxie could see the gym just ablaze in glorious lights and could hear the joyous roars of the crowd. She had never wanted so much to be apart of something so big but she couldn't join in now. It was too late. Maxie would remain on that bus until the game ended and the team rejoiced in their win. No championship party would she attend. The loss she felt for being separated from her team she didn't know how long she could bear. But that enduring, that unbearable loss, would have to become bearable because it was certain to last for the next 1000 years!
Interpretation:
Maxie is on the team no matter what meaning she is saved and, of course, once saved always saved; John 10:27-30. Maxie's membership on the team is due to her God-given talent which would be her spiritual salvation, like all of ours, which is the work of Christ alone, never man; Eph. 2:8,9. Coach Natas from the other team represents both the self-invited devils, as well as the uninvited ones, that are in our daily lives to stray our focus. These distractions are any number of things but we are instructed in Scripture to lay aside every sin that ensnares us, Heb 12:1,2. Many of life's simple activities are time that could have been sacrificed for the Lord which would then have been credited to our account that is kept, by Christ, for us, in heaven; Luke 12:33. These methods of distraction are used to entice our eyes and to stray us from preparing for our "big game" (the Millennial Kingdom).
The Coach of Maxie's team is a type of Christ, judging Maxie's performance, qualifications, and personal sacrifice. The bus typifies the outer darkness (this is where the unfaithful Christians will be for the duration of the Millennial Kingdom). Finally, the regret Maxie feels is the "weeping and gnashing of teeth" that the unfaithful believer will experience once they realize they had the potential to reign and rule an entire kingdom with Christ but instead they gave it up for the pleasures of this world; (see Matt. 22:1-14).
So while this story is rather elementary the message behind it certainly is not. In wanting to stick to a most simple illustration, this story easily typifies the message of the Millennial Kingdom. The Millennial Kingdom is literally up for grabs! We are able to attain for ourselves an inheritance that no man can fully comprehend with his finite mind! It doesn't matter if we were born poor, rich, or somewhere in between because now our gracious Father in heaven is offering up a most unbelievable reward for faithful living; an inheritance! So rejoice, for He has "qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance"! The magnitude of this inheritance is what we hope to exemplify through our girl, Maxie.
