My daughter strode confidently to the stage for the bubble gum blowing contest. It was the first campfire of Summer Bible Camp, and she was last year’s returning champion. Her swagger, attitude and comments showed everyone that neither “Rocky” nor “Ali” had ever been more confident than she was of victory. She braced herself for what she knew was going to be the best bubble shed ever blown, but it was barely out of her mouth before it popped! Her defeat was made all the worse by the boasting she had done.

Her experience reminded me of the statement, “If shed come in like she went out, she would have gone out like she came in.”

The truth of Jesus teaching in this passage is eternal. We need to simply serve to the best of our ability and then let Him exalt us if He chooses. Jesus said that it is better to sit in the lowest place at a banquet and to be invited up to the place of honor rather than experiencing the reverse.

My daughter learned that lesson and competed again at the end of the week. She was more humble and knew she had to earn the championship. It was a close and hard fought competition. She’ll be the returning two-time champion this year.