After teaching for a dozen plus years, I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve seen this common scenario in the gym. Just before we let the kids have free play, coach lines up basketballs down the center of the court. The moment she blows her whistle, kids come bounding down the bleachers, racing to get one of the few balls. Heaven help us if two kids grab the same ball at the same time! You can well imagine the tug of war that follows. Most of the ball-chasing kids now become ball-carrier-chasing kids. They play along, waiting for the chance to get a ball for themselves.
As an artsy kind of person (you’re surprised, I’m sure!) this is a never-ending source of frustration for me. Why can’t kids be this enthusiastic about music and drama?! (I know there are some, but the numbers just don’t compare.) Someday I’m going to write a movie where we line up scripts across the front of the stage and the kids rush to grab one. In the next scene, we lay out a line of band instruments that kids run to and fight over.
Similarly, I can’t always understand why people aren’t rushing to the church, scrambling for the Lord. Having God in my life gives my life meaning and purpose. Knowing there is more to this life, including a promise of a glorious afterlife, helps me get up in the morning and go to work another day. Even if I weren’t a Christian, I don’t think I could be one of those “you live, you die, and that’s all there is” kind of people. God made us with a sense or awareness of Him. That awareness becomes a need and longing for a connection and relationship with Him and nothing else will satisfy it.
So, whether you blow a horn or throw a ball, “seek first the Kingdom of God.”
Until our next togethering,
love ya,
Bret
