The basketball season has just drawn to a close and the Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA champions after defeating the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers in a high spirited series. Both teams had their super stars who played true championship basketball. Quite often the outcome of an important basketball game is decided at the free throw line.

There are a lot of parallels that can be drawn between a basketball star throwing free throws and a servant of Christ walking in the way of the Truth.

In basketball the athlete must take his position at the free throw line. He must make his stand, positioning himself in the center and get set. Paul tells us that we should ”stand fast in the Lord.” Both the athlete and the follower of Jesus must be willing to stand fast, to make their position known and be prepared to take their place at the line. The pressure may be tremendous. A true champion will not wilt.

After taking a position at the line, the next thing to do is to focus on the goal. The goal is all important. It requires great concentration to do this while the crowd is roaring, the opposition trying to distract, and the score tied.

As a follower of Christ we too must keep our goal firmly in mind at all times. Our enemies will try to distract us and cause us to stumble but we must keep our eyes on Jesus. We remember that Peter walked on the water as long as he looked to Jesus but when he looked away and saw the wind boisterous, he began to sink. This was the way that Jesus was able to endure the cross. We are told that ”for the joy set before him he endured the cross.”

The athlete with his eye on the goal now with controlled execution tosses the ball towards the hoop with just the right amount of back spin so that the ball will drop safely through the hoop. He has practiced doing this a thousand times so that when he is called upon to do it in a game he will be able to do it with an almost automatic reflex. Again, the follower of Christ must constantly practice living the Christ-like life so that when he is tried, he will be able to respond in the right way, saying and doing the right things. It will be too late to learn how to live the Truth when temptation and trial rear their ugly heads. Constant practice has to be the way to live, day in and day out and then in the days of adversity, we will respond in the right way.

Even after the ball has left the athlete’s hands, he follows through. Follow through is essential m all sports as well as in the walk of a true follower of Jesus. We don’t just toss the ball, we follow through; we don’t just talk the truth, we follow through; we don’t just get someone interested in our beliefs, we follow through. Even after we have been successful in helping another of Adam’s race put on the name of Jesus in baptism, we don’t drop them there, we follow through. They need additional help, and encouragement, we must not abandon a newborn babe, we follow through. We need to be well balanced in every phase of our living and this frequently marks off the champion in sports from the novice. Everyone from about the age of ten can sometimes make the basket from the free throw line but the stars do it consistently.

Let us practice our faith every day so that when the pressure is on we will be able to come through for the Lord. Paul in speaking of the athletes of his day said, ”now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” Let us be as dedicated to our goal as the athlete is to his for we shall win if we faint not.