It’s definitely basketball season all around the country. From kindergarten to the NBA, players are hitting the hard wood and teams are suiting up. We start with our boys next month. I’m coaching the K5 Rams of which Axton is on. 5/6-year-old basketball is wild!!! If you’re bored on a Saturday in January or February, you should totally come check it out.
I played basketball all the way through high school and my senior year we made a run for state but got beat in the regional tournament by the team that went on to win state (I think, but could be wrong…it makes for a better story, though, if it was).
One thing I remember very clearly, however, was the conditioning and how much I hated it. It was terrible. Just sprinting, starting, stopping, shuffling, and sucking air! A drill that I particularly loathed was 10 in 60. You had to run 94 ft (the length of the court) 10 times in less that 60 seconds or there were consequences (which involved more running usually). And we did those multiple times and for various reasons – for punishment, for penalties, for conditioning, and sometimes just for fun (for the coach).
But the thing about this drill that I can now appreciate is not that it was hard, but we had exact parameters, clear expectations, and defined demands. There was a robust sense of urgency because the amount of work within the time constraints. The results were evident in the fourth quarter, when the game was on the line, or against teams with less conditioning.
As I thought about this new year and what to focus on for myself, I decided I would try something different and wanted to give it to you as well.
10 in 60: Do 10 Sacrificial Acts of Kindness in 60 days. Rules: 1. Plan them. These need to be ON PURPOSE and calculated, not compulsive or random. Pray about the What and Who, then Do. 2. Don’t post them. These need to be anonymous or at least not public. If you get recognized, so be it, but not because you brought attention to it. 3. Sacrifice. These need to cost you something. Doing the dishes at your house, tipping your server a full 15% on crappy service, or letting someone go in front of you in traffic are good, but just things everyone should do and don’t count. What can you give up? What will take some rearranging of life, money, time, resources, etc, to benefit someone else with no strings attached? (Discuss with spouse first.)
John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, called for people to “Repent” because the “kingdom of God had come close” (Matt 3:2). Then, Jesus came on the scene and delivered the exact same message (Matt 4:17).
At first it seems that John was talking about Jesus coming to earth. But when Jesus shows up and echoes the same thing, it causes us to look beyond the surface and understand something deeper. There was a sense of urgency in their preaching and so we must listen with that same ear.
The Israelites were expecting something to change from a political standpoint. They were expecting a valiant battle tested warrior to rise up and overthrow the Roman government in a firestorm. Afterall, the promise of a messiah and coming king who would save his people was written in and studied in their very book of faith.
But when John and Jesus show up and tell them to REPENT, they are literally saying to people to “Change their mind” and “think differently” about this king and kingdom because it has drawn near, come close, and it would be an awful thing to miss what’s happening within it.
If you’re looking, hoping, waiting for transformation, for life to change, for something better to come, if you believe that things are going to improve if you just wait long enough, let me say this: REPENT, your transformation and change is right now!
If you do what you always did, you’ll get what you always got. So, what’s keeping you from experiencing something better?
Try the 10 in 60 challenge and see if it doesn’t impact you for the better. See if you aren’t different at the end. Give it a shot. Afterall, what do you have to lose?!!?
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