Vol. 17 No. 13 | March 31, 2014
Of the 11 million NCAA Basketball Tournament brackets submitted on ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, only 8 brackets correctly picked all 8 of the Elite Eight teams. I had one. Not one of the 8 brackets; I had one of the 8 teams in my Elite Eight. I am not very good at predicting the future.
Of the 11 million-plus NCAA Basketball Tournament brackets submitted only 612 picked the Final Four teams.
I am obviously not the only one who is not very good at predicting the results. There are a few other predictions that did not turn into reality.
“That the automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced.” (Scientific American, in a 1909 report.)
“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.” (Ken Olsen, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977)
“640K ought to be enough for anybody.” (Attributed to Bill Gates, 1981, but believed to be an urban legend.)
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”(Western Union internal memo, 1876.)
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
(Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962)
And a couple of my own:
“Wearing shoes without socks is really a dumb thing to do.”
“Surely gas won’t go higher than 59 cents a gallon.”
Whether making a prediction about a basketball tournament or the future of technology our record is not very good. Our lives are overrun with innovative gadgets of technology that fifty years ago would have been considered far-fetched even for science fiction literature.
God is much better at predicting the future and making promises. When He makes predictions or promises we can be certain that they will come true.
Isaiah 53 (NIV):
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind,a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence,nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong,because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Matthew 26:28 (NIV):
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Revelation 22:12-13 (NIV):
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
Revelation 22:20 (NIV):
He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”
We may not be very good at predicting the future, but that is okay. We may make promises that we cannot keep. God does. So, if your NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket was ruined early in the first round, you know now that life goes on. If you have seen the world around you change beyond anything you ever imagined, enjoy the advancements. When you read the promises that the Savior is coming, He offers you the forgiveness of all your sins, and that the Lord will return to gather His faithful, and we will live with Him forever, you can rest assured that His promises are true and that His predictions will come to pass.
Tom
© Copyright 2014 Tom Norvell. All rights reserved.