With football being over, I can put all my attention towards my favorite sport. Basketball. This weekend is the NBA All-Star weekend. The high school and college seasons are winding down. March Madness is around the corner. It’s a great time to be a basketball fan. I love basketball. It’s no secret. I love everything about the game. Its founding and storied history. Its challenging skills and rewarding accomplishments. I love the pain it leaves behind. I love the pure joy it creates as well. If you can’t tell up to this point, let me say it again: I love basketball. I can remember the first time I picked up a ball. I can remember the first goal I shot at. Both were in Fort Leonard Wood. I was in the 5th grade. My first time playing on a team was there to. I fouled out of my very first game. When I got home, I told my mother I wasn’t going back. Stupid game! Of course she didn’t let that happen. I went back and it’s been a part of my life ever since. And what it has taught me. The lessons are limitless. For this devotion I’ll focus on the very basics: Offense and Defense.
To be successful you need to be able to play both. To score points you need to put the ball into the goal. Offense. But in order to win you need to be able to stop your opponent from doing the same. Defense. There’s a saying, “Defense wins championships!” Lots of truth in that. And I think these both apply to our off the court lives. Our spiritual lives. I think the best offense and defense of our lives is Jesus. Having him in our hearts gives us both.
When we have Jesus guiding us, we walk through our daily lives knowing that we can get through anything. Nothing can stop us. With him, there’s nothing in our way they can prevent us from eternity in heaven. There’s no greater “offense” than that. And with Jesus in our hearts, whenever we are attacked, we can fight it off. Whenever our demons come, they are powerless. Whenever the world tries to hold us down, we can stand our feet. This is the “defense” I’m talking about. Having him in our hearts doesn’t mean that we can do all things. Having him in our hearts means that we are able to GET THROUGH all things because of the strength that he gives us. So having him in our hearts is the best Offense and Defense that we can ever have. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.
