Basketball with Dad

I love sports.  Watching, playing, even talking about sports.  I prefer football as an adult, played a lot of baseball when I was younger, and dabbled in soccer and basketball.  Anyways...

Nowadays I live next to several indoor/outdoor basketball courts.  I'm not very good or graceful but there is something relaxing about shooting hoops and free-throws.  As a pastor my mind is always running...and usually at high speeds.  Basketball is a good discipline to simply clear my mind.

Basketball has also become a great training tool for raising my children and particularly my boys.  Deuteronomy 6 makes it clear that we are to be training our children day and night.  So tonight, my oldest son Andrew (5) is using my full size basketball (too heavy for him) and trying to make into the elementary hoop on the playground (about 8ft).  I have been guilty in the past of celebrating when he makes a goal and correcting his form or effort when he missed.  Andrew is a perfectionist but also loves to celebrate victory and often cries if he loses. Tonight...he didn't make one shot.  He came close.  But no net.  The difference tonight.  No tears.  After each miss I encouraged him to keep trying and after each try I told him how proud of him I was for trying.  30-40 misses later, I hugged him and celebrated him as my son.  He smiled from ear to ear.  He kept trying not to earn my favor.  He kept trying because he knew he had my favor.

Pauls says in Galatians 4:4-9

"4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. 8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?"

Christians are adopted as sons.  We were slaves! Now we are sons! We were enslaved to sin but now we know God.  He knows us and we have his favor.  Therefore when he calls us to walk in the good works that He has prepared beforehand for us (Eph 2:10) we do it out of joy because we are not earning favor with God. What disciple(s) are you not walking in? In what ways are you trying to earn favor instead of walking in the favor that was earned for you? Your not called to perfect living. You are called to obedient living.  There will be days like today where you miss everything...and the Father wraps His arms around you and says "I love you...son."