In the last couple of weeks a lot of Americans have experienced what is known as “March madness.”

This is the NCAA Basketball Tournament that pairs the top 68 teams against one another, crowning a champion at the end.

This year there have been quite a few close games decided by the last possession or two. Coaches and players have had to choose which play to run, who will take the last shot, who to send to the free throw line, or who to even have in the game.

In the Purdue-Virginia game, Purdue decided to foul the Virginia player sending him to the free throw line rather than letting them take the final shot. It didn’t work out too well for Purdue.

In the Duke- Michigan State game, on the final play the Michigan State player went towards the basket for a wide open layup but chose to not shoot and instead dribbled the ball until the time ran out. If he had attempted to score, Duke would have had time to shoot a 3-pointer, sending the game into overtime. In this case it turned out to be a great decision.

I know that the consequences for making bad decisions are not life-threatening and sometimes making good decisions still does not pay off. But there is one decision in life that has eternal consequences.

The scriptures teach us that the decision we make concerning Jesus Christ will determine our eternal destiny.

John 3:36 reveals this when it says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

In other words, those who choose to follow Jesus will experience God’s eternal blessing, but those who decide to not follow him will experience God’s eternal wrath.

The good news is that we get to choose.