just stay with me...

This might be a bit of a stretch...

I'm a big NBA fan and trailblazer fan. Recently, Portland's best player, Brandon Roy, has missed about 5 games with a groin and hip injury. I watch every single game, and these last five games I just haven't really enjoyed watching that much. I was trying to figure it out for a while and finally did; It's the absence of Brandon Roy that completely changes the tempo, excitement, and poise of the game. He's their leader, he's their play maker, he brings control to the court, the other guys trust him. The blazer's have only won, one of the games during the five Roy has missed. They somewhat seem lost without him. Basically, the team is not capable of playing as well, without Brandon Roy, as they are with him. The funny thing is, I knew all of this! I guess I just didn't think about it right away because I was just so used to Roy's ability and what he brings to the team, that it didn't stick out to me as amazing anymore, it was just normal for him to take over a game and lead the team to a win.

I was thinking about this in relation to my relationship with Christ. It's really not that far off! Jesus brings numerous things to my life. I'm not going to list them all; I just want to emphasize how important it is to me that He is a part of my life. If I think about my life as a team, and Jesus as the best player on my team, I am lost without Him! I want Him getting the ball every possession, and when a timeout is called, I want Him calling the next play. After the game is over, I'm giving all the credit to Him, and telling everyone how we couldn't have done it without Him. Then, when I go and play with other people, I can mimic the things I've seen Jesus do and other people will know that I have learned from Him, and they will see how great it has made me, and they too may want to learn from Him. Radical.

So now I'm thinking of the communities we are each a part of, as teams. My friends here in Portland we are part of a team, friends at NNU, you guys are part of a team! Let us always make sure Jesus is leading the way and is the focal point of our play, so that we don't become boring and unproductive. Encourage your team mates by what Jesus has taught you, and continue to always play just as Jesus has taught us. Don't let your relationship with Jesus become normal.

~kinda cheesy but you get the point.

p.s. It would be seriously so sweet to play some basketball with Jesus. I bet he was, and is, and forever will be pretty athletic.