Missing the Lottery by One
IllustrationAnalogy★★★★IT WOULD be a miserable thing to almost win the lottery. Let’s say you played the lottery and you decided to listen as the winning numbers were being announced. Your excitement would rise as you realize that you’ve got the first number, then the second number, then the third number, and then the fourth and the fifth numbers.
You’d also be severely deflated when they call out the last number and you realize that you’ve missed winning by one digit. You’d probably be pouting, crying, screaming, and agonizing over this close call. For a long time, every time you pay a bill, you would remember, “I could have been a millionaire.” What God is going to do on judgment day is to show you what you could have had, what you could have been, and what He could have done with you in that kingdom that is to come.
Then you will watch Him “scratch” your name off of those possibilities and give it to the man beside you.
The point
On judgment day, God will show believers all they could have been and accomplished, then give those rewards to others. The tragedy of almost-winning combined with permanent loss.