Lessons I’ve learned from shooting (a basketball)…

So those who know me, know I used to be obsessed with basketball. Loved it. Spent hours in the gym shooting, oddly never became a good shooter, but nonetheless that didn’t stop me from trying… When playing in college, they gave all the guards a shooting coach, which was cool, though I don’t think my coach understood, it’s REALLY tough to get a shot off from the end of the bench… but that’s besides the point, this past week I’ve been able to get back into the gym and shoot around, while there i began to think through, what any normal pastor would… How does shooting apply to our day to day life? Here’s what I came up with:

1. Follow through: Michael Jordan had the best follow through. Ever. Leaving his hand hanging in the air well after he had shot the ball. He had a signature follow through… Most of us in life unfortunately don’t. What I mean is we don’t follow through on many things whether it be a book your reading, a school you’re attending, or a dream you’re pursuing… this has been one of the hardest things for me to grasp in life, when a speed bump happens, when discouragement comes along, or things don’t go “my way” I can so easily quit, give in, walk away… But learning the art of following through can make the difference between a life lived well, and a life wasted. Follow through finish what you started…

2. Keep your eye on the target: My senior year in high school I made 0 three point shots (and I was our starting shooting guard, needless to say our team wasn’t good) When I started playing college, my coach noticed that when I was shooting I was not directly keeping my eye on the basket, I was shooting aimlessly, though I had a general area, I did not zone into the exact target I wanted the ball to go. Not to state the obvious, but if you have no target the odds of you making the shot go way down. Funny thing is, many of us don’t have target goals. We’re aimlessly walking around in life, expecting to make it by chance. Find your passion, your calling, your dream and make it your target goal, set a plan in place to follow through with it… In the same way you’re going to miss the shot without keeping your eye on the target, you can miss a lot in life, without having any target…

3. Keep shooting/have confidence: Every shot you take you should have the mindset that you’re going to make the shot… Why shoot if you think you’re going to miss? You should just hand them the ball at that point it’s as good as a turnover. In life why would we go for things if we think or believe were going to fail? Have faith in yourself better yet have some self respect and knowledge that you’re capable of accomplishing great things… Who would want to hire, team up, or partner with someone who has very little confidence in themselves? Some great examples in scripture of guys like this would be Jeremiah who thought he was “too young”, or Moses who could not “speak eloquently”, the list goes on…

So avoiding the risk of sounding like one of those motivational speakers on TV that we sometimes call televangelists, I wouldn’t necessarily end with a “believe in yourself and go get em!” I think this is more of a depend on God, surrender your goal and dreams to Him… Make sure in the end HE is the goal, that you are taking all of the above and lining them up with scripture. These aren’t to help one pursue the expansion of their name and market, but contrary to that, to help you look outside of yourself and seek how one could die to himself and glorify Him…