Shots

After watching the neighborhood kids playing basketball for a while, it occurs to me that the fate of the country will be in good hands if counting backward from five to zero turns out to be a vital skill.  If hitting shots is what’s important, well, maybe it’s time to look into bomb shelters.

But we tend to focus on the times we come through in the clutch, though, don’t we?  We are perfectly fine with choking it up massively when there are no consequences, and doing it dozens and dozens of times; all we need is the one shining moment of glory we can brag about.

But with all due respect to the miniature Stephan Currys in my neighborhood, life doesn’t generally come with do-overs.  Most of the time, you get one shot.  You take it, or you don’t take it; you make it, or you miss it.  And then you have to deal with the results, good or bad.

It should make us vigilant when we go out into our Father’s vineyard to work.  We can’t afford to take a haphazard, lackadaisical attitude toward His service; time is short and diminishing (John 9:5).  Thankfully we serve a Master who is merciful; occasional slip-ups are inevitable and will be forgiven as long as we adhere to His path (1 John 1:7).  But that is no excuse for laziness.

Don’t ignore your misses.  Learn from them so you can do better the next time.  And by no means should you think that the occasional “make” means all the “misses” didn’t count