BURTON – I want to be better. At 6’3” it is a shame that the only post I’m going to be playing on a basketball team is the kind that checks the mail. If only I had the natural talent and life of instruction drilled into my mindset and frame. This is not a court I seem to be made for.
I want to be better. I’ve been in the process of growing in my education professionally for 25+ years of my forty-something life and I still have difficulty on certain projects and papers. It seems professional education does not always overcome someone’s more than amateur-crastination practice. I am left wondering if this is not a court I seem to be made for.
I want to be better. I look back on my forty-something years and behold that I’ve been in some sort of ministerial labor since the 1900s. Yet, I have not been able to apprehend all that is required to be a faithful servant who walks in a manner worthy of the gospel, and I am astounded at how often I fall short of the shepherding stewardship that has been entrusted in my calling. I am left wondering why this is a court I am supposedly meant for.
I want to be better. As a husband of 20 years and a father to 1 adult, 2 teenagers, and 1 child, I think upon how I feel less like the lofty pop-culture example of Bandit Heeler, and more like the goof-ball father figures of my 80’s childhood. I am astounded that this could ever be a court I am intended for.
I want to be better.
While I probably won’t be able to do much of anything about my skills in basketball… there is something that we can take to heart as husbands and fathers. Paul wrote to the Corinthians…
“By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”
This is such good news, ultimately in context of the resurrection, but also as a reminder that the same gospel that brings new life to our souls is what is more than to bring new life in our homes as husbands & fathers.
As we walk in the footsteps of the ultimate Father, God, we have been given the opportunity to shape and mold our kids beyond just physical presence & provision. As much as this is needed and as much as we want to be better… We point them to the Lord who has a hope that does not disappoint. We point them to the Lord whose promises never fail. We point them to the height, depth, length, and width of His love that is able to save, sanctify, and sustain. We point them to the Lord who gives and serves even in the difficulties. We point them to the Lord who is mighty yet meek, holy yet humble, conquering yet compassionate.
And all the while we take this grace dispensed to us with greater astonishment…we may see where we fall short and desire to be better…but we are drawn closer to the Father that loves you too brothers. Don’t just seek to be better, trust and be His. This is the court that you have been welcomed into.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerome Taylor is the pastor of Eastgate Baptist Church in Burton, MI, co-director of the Genesee Baptist Association, Recording Secretary & former President of the BSCM, and a Send Relief Projects Manager for Serve Tour Flint. He is the husband of Melinda, and father the Abigail, Jackson, Hannah, and Naomi.