Remember this shot? I sure do. MJ comin’ through in the clutch…again! I love it! For years I worshiped this guy. I had the shoes, the baggy shorts and wore the wrist band up by my elbow on my left arm during games. I watched him, listened to him, read books and magazine articles about him, went to see him whenever I could. I slept with my basketball and played hoops every waking moment.
Remember this commercial?
In my diligent pursuit of being like Mike I discovered some very important facts that, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t do anything about…
1. I’m white.
2. I’m short.
3. I’ve had 4 knee operations.
4. I’ve never been drafted by an NBA team.
5. Drinking Gatorade doesn’t help.
6. There can never be another Michael Jordan.
Well, I’ve gotten over it. I’m ok. I still love to play basketball but have definitely learned my limitations. You are probably snickering a bit about how silly it is to try to be like Mike, and I get that. I wonder, though, if we can see how much greater the silliness of a message from a pulpit or a book or from inside our own head that tells us to be like God. Now that’s laughable! Sing the Gatorade tune with those words: “Like God, if I could be like God.” HAHAHA! Eventually we realize it’s not really that funny because we ourselves and so many countless others are trying to be like God. And we can’t. We try, we fail…we try, try, try. Wasn’t that the first sin? “I will be like the Most High” And didn’t that first sin try to convince us that eating the fruit would make us like God? This has been an errant pursuit for far too long.
God’s original plan was for us to be us.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…
He made us and we were us. Already in His image. He said it was very, very good. Why do I try and try to be something I’m not nor could ever be? Why do I strive for perfection when it is impossible? Why is it so hard to see that I have been made in the image of God? Even typing those words freaks me out. I understand that we are fallen, but we have been re-born, brought back from the dead, restored. For me, I’m learning to journey to become more human, more fully alive, as was intended.
It’s freeing to know that I don’t have to make the last shot to win it all…
Its interesting watching Mike in post playing career. He’s not as successful in leading others to be like him. He can’t make others be like him or play like him, (see the Wizards).
The depth of the beauty of the Father is in the fact that He has taken care of everything and we get the championship ring! And, unlike Mike, He’ll amaze us for eternity…
This made me think of the statement, “We are not physical beings with a spirit, we are spiritual beings with a physical body.” Thanks for reminding me that I’m not defined by my physical abilities and looks (thank God), rather I’m defined by how God sees me.
Sparky,
I love that statement, and I love that God looks on the heart which He has re-created.
Read this: http://jonathanbrink.com/2008/08/15/the-final-judgment/
More good news!
Wow. Thanks for the redirect. I’m blessed by the story.