A new star is born. Just when we thought that we would never see the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s natural snooker talent again, and that Donald Trump was the only Trump on the circuit, up steps Judd Trump to the podium to wrestle the Trump card from the American Trump.

Young Judd Trump in his first final at The Crucible Theatre has just succumbed 18-15 to veteran John Higgins, after being 12-9 ahead. Higgins, having just scraped through to win his fourth World Championship crown, paid tribute to this new “ace in the pack”, saying that “Judd Trump was playing a brand of snooker that I’ve never seen before in my life. We’ve got our new sensation of the game, which is great.”

With his competitive spirit, we cannot write off Donald Trump who is reputed to be aiming his snooker cue at the American Presidency although he got himself snookered behind Barak Obama’s birth certificate, which he mistakenly thought would show that Obama was not born an American citizen. This new ding-dong for top-dog celebrity Trump raises the question, on which side of the Atlantic will the Trump card lie? Meanwhile, even Donald Trump will rejoice in young Judd Trump’s triumphant arrival on the world stage.

Talents
The natural talents of human beings are wonderful to behold. They remind us of the wonder of God’s creation of mankind. The Scripture says of the Lord Jesus Christ: “Thou art fairer than the children of men” Psalm 45:2. Jesus is the sum total of all that is good in mankind. When we witness the extraordinary gifts in some individuals we are glimpsing the enormous potential of each human being. The reason for this is because this potential finds its fulfilment in the perfect embodiment of the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, this perfect embodiment is found not only in Christ, but Christ promises it to be the destiny of each of His believing people. This is their destiny – to be “in Him, with Him, and like Him”.

This shows the danger of squandering such unspeakable potential by settling for any lesser destiny. The Lord Jesus warns us against squandering it: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mat 16:26. The Saviour warns us about the thieving activity of robbing people of life – “The thief comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” John 10:10.

This eternal life in Jesus Christ is hazarded and squandered by multitudes listening to the siren voices diverting their attention away from the greatest gift to mankind: “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” 2Cor 9:15, for “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” Rom 6:23.

Update:

21 Jan 2019: Judd Trump beat Ronnie O’Sullivanto wins his first Masters final. He puts it down to ‘more maturity’, which is why Jesus invites us to learn from Him Mat 11:29 so that our lives may progress in this world in preparation for the world to come Mk 10:30, Lk 18:30, Eph 1:21, Heb 2:5 and Heb 6:5.

6 May 2019: Judd Trump has triumphed over John Higgins 18-9 to win his first World Championship at The Crucible Theatre after turning professional in 2005. There were a record number of 11 centuries in a Crucible final, and Steve Davies said of Trump that “he demolished one of the greatest players who ever held a cue” and that the second session was “controlled annihilation”. He concluded: “It was amazing. The standard in that final may have been the greatest standard we have ever seen.” Hazel Irvine described it as “possibly the greatest final of all time”. Trump was the English under-15 champion at 10 years old and made the youngest competitive 147 maximum at 14 years old. He now joins the short list of Triple Crown winners. I wonder if Donald Trump watched his namesake’s victory.