Today I was talking to a young man I am training in basketball… one of the things I have my students do is to fill out a profile with perceived strengths and weaknesses… and also goals. It gives me a chance to not only devise a plan, but also to challenge trainees using their own words.
This particular young man has basketball goals of more playing time; and as I pried a bit about his work habits on the court this past week, he admitted to more time on a basketball video game than on the actual court. I went as far as having him guesstimate the time he had spent practicing or playing basketball and punched it into my calculator to give him the percentage of time he had “invested” in his goals… let’s just say he looked a bit uncomfortable as he was faced with reality.
One of my Coach Burden Maxims is as follows: I can accept someone being better than me. But I can’t accept someone working harder than me! -OR- me not being better than I was yesterday!
The key to reaching goals is growth!
On those player profiles I ask not just about athletics but also about social… school… family… etc. Like with the sport, I ask for strengths, weaknesses and goals… And I didn’t stop at asking about court time with the young man, but also time in the Word this week, as he had stated a desire/goal to grow deeper in the Scriptures. I was thankful for his honesty, but again had to point out the shortcomings of his “investment.”
Bottom line is that most believers do not place an emphasis on growing stronger daily. Spiritually speaking, (which I am convinced ultimately affects every other area of your life), are you better today than you were yesterday?
The writer of Hebrews was willing to get up in our business like a stern coach… Chapter 5 says 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Did you see the word “unskilled”? Too many believers aren’t putting in the work to be “skilled” in the Word… Verse 14 tells us what we need to do to be skilled… check out the terms the NASB version of the Playbook uses: 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.
“Because of practice”… are “trained”…
Are you, am I, better today that we
were yesterday? If not let’s get off our butts and get to work!
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