My Life of Basketball

I had a flashback yesterday. No, it wasn't a drug flashback. I walked into our gym (sorry, sanctuasium) here at church and there were three basketballs up on the counter. I wanted to walk over and pick one up and start shooting baskets. That's what the old me would have done.
You see, I loved basketball when I was young. That's not too strong of a word. In elementary school, my brother and I would use a tennis ball and a three gallon ice cream container as a basketball and basket. Later, we made a basket out of cardboard and taped it to the wall. A ping pong ball served as the basketball. Of course, in basketball season I loved to play in the "real" gym. The highlight of my life up to that point was playing an exhibition game at half time of the high school game in front of everybody in the big city auditorium.
In junior high, I made up a team...Western. I had names for every position...and by the way, we won every game. I had a tennis ball for the basketball and my basket was unusual. Between the wooden supports in our house ran two copper pipes. These pipes were probably six inches apart. If I could get the ball in between those pipes, it was a basket. I spent hours playing. We didn't have the TV coverage of basketball in those days or I would have been watching basketball all the time. The books I read for my book report were basketball books. I even remember the name of one of them...State Champs. In junior high, I began my "official" basketball playing. I made the 8th grade team my 7th grade year and was a starter my 8th and 9th grade year.
Without boring you even more, I played in high school and received a scholarship to play in college. Basketball was my life. I read about it. I thought about it. I watched it on TV. I watched it in person. I played whenever I could. It defined me.
Paul says, "Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ." His life was the Jewish life. It's what he ate, slept, drank. His goal? Perhaps to serve on the Sanhedrin. To reach the pinnacle of Jewishness. But now, he says, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." He met Jesus face to face and he changed. What mattered most to him now was nothing.
What matters most to you? Is it really worth it? Unless it's our Lord, I doubt it. And if you're struggling with something similar, I would encourage you to find the One, the only One who can bring you joy and who will never fail. Learn from the experience of others. Everything else pales in the light of the face of Jesus. The song says: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace." Have a great day! JW

P.S. By the way, last summer I was shooting baskets at camp and one of the campers said, "You used to be good didn't you?" It made my day.