So, tonight I get in from Gabe's baskeball tryouts.  Sure, he's one of the preachers' kids, but he still has to try out.  There are about six teams for Gabe's age group.  The kids got evaluated based on thier shooting, dribbling, ball handling, speed, and other various athletic indicators.  They were given scores from 1 to 5.  If you did great, you get a five.  If you are like me, then well....you get a 1.  Anyway, after all the kids are evaluated, the coaches assign thier numbers and come up with an average for each kid. 

Then the draft begins.   Each team is allowed so many points for thier team, so that it is "fair."  So, if your kid is good, then s/he has to be balanced out by a kid who plays like say.... me.  Anyway, this leads to an interesting occurance.  Let's say your kid had a bad night.  She would normally be ranked a 4, but due to the pressures of tomorrow's spelling test, she wasn't her best.  She airbricked some balls and was sloppy on he lay-ups.  She ends up getting ranked a 2.  On the other hand, say a kid who was like me, was there.  As the saying goes, "even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then."  Normally, that kid would have been a 1.  Today he was a 3 or 4. 

This is where it gets interesting.  If the coach "knows" the player, then they know if they were having an off night, and drafts them early and keeps the points down for thier team and allows them to draft a higher player.  If all was "fair" in the world, then those points would actually be spread out and maybe even get used on a kid who scored higher than they should have.  In reality it should even out.  ... right?....

So, Gabe comes home and says he did his "best." 

As a dad, I am proud.  I didn't "push" him to do his best.  I told him to go have fun and burn off some energy.  All that parenting was paying off.  Gabe did his "best" even when a game wasn't on the line.  That's all I ask.  That's all God asks.  Do your best.

That got me to thinking about playing on God's team.  What if Gabriel and Lucifer were assigning numbers for your performance on the field?  What if we were "trying out" all the time and didn't even know it?  Who would we look better to?  Would we be doing our best?  Which team would draft us and how many points would we be worth? 

This Advent season, it is not just Santa Claus that's watching;  it is the heavenly and non-heavenly host.  We are being evaluated ... and yes...we are going to be playing on one team or the other. 

The difference is that God's team is scoring us differently than the other team.   Gabriel gives us all fives, because Jesus "is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (II Peter 3:9b).  God gives us a high grade, because he knows us.  He knows that we are capable of doing so much better than we do at "tryouts."  God knows that within each one of us is a reflection of God's glory that is waiting to be revealed in its time.  

God know you and God wants you on His team. 

... but then.... so does the other team.  The Devil and his army is looking at your weaknesses and preying on them.  They want us to feel defeated in our lack of control and poor showing.  They want us to seek the grade more than the fun of the game.  They want us to seek approval from a scoring system.  

This Christmas, you've been drafted.  Serve Christ.  Play your best.  Have fun.  Burn some energy.  I look forward to seeing you in the game!

Jack