Lessons Learned from Basketball

Out of everything good in life, basketball has to be in my top five. Ever since I was a kid, I have had a deep love for the sport, have been drawn to it. Its one of those things that comes naturally to me, like breathing. March is a great time of year for basketball, with the NCAA tournament starting up. Its always fun to watch the games throughout the month, to see the progression of teams, of players, of stars. Dreams are made or broken, teams rally together or break apart, games are one at the buzzer. However, the talent and skill that are needed to win it all are not produced in the moment they are needed. Its takes hours of careful practice and preparation, of dribbling, shooting, rebounding drills repeated over and over again until it becomes natural to the players. Such it is in life. We do not become what we want to be over night. Nor do we overcome our trials all at once, all in the blink of an eye. It takes careful practice and preparation, self examination and trust in God. Often times it is hard to see the change in our self, because we are not taking huge monumental steps each day. But step after step in the right direction, shot after shot, stone after stone, we lay a foundation of faith that cannot be shaken, putting our trust in that spirit that invites us to do good, until the day we become perfected through Jesus Christ, prepared to meet him again. We should not be weary in well doing, "for out of small things proceed that which is great." (DandC64:33) "The Lord requireth the heart. "(DandC64:34) When we give little by little, it will be easier and easier to give more. When we consistently practice following Jesus, we will become more like him each day we strive to do good. Jesus himself  "grew, and waxed strong" in his youth. He was about his fathers business.(Luke 2) He was patient in his childhood as he learned and grew, so must we as we develop faith, and grow when answers come a little at a time. The most important thing for us will be our commitment to stay on the right path. When we give all we are to him, we will find ourselves and become truly converted. Just like in basketball, the team that is most committed, determined to win will win the game every time. The apostles left there nets, the widow gave two mites all she had, Joshua chose to serve the Lord, ruth was commited to follow God, her siblings unto death. How commited are we to give up those things wich cannot last for eternal glory. It will be well worht any price we can come up with to give our hearts to the Lord, prepare to meet him again in heaven.