Today, we had a speaker* in church share an experience in church that I realized had so many applications. As a freshman on the freshman basketball team, he looked up to and admired the senior varsity players. They worked hard and played hard, and when it came time for the state championship game, they won by one in a double overtime. The joy in the community was palpable. Soon after, the coach pulled all the remaining players (for the next year) together and told them that if they were to repeat exactly what this team had done, they too could win. They were equally as skilled, they just need to work as hard and follow the plan. They soon realized this would involve intense training. The coach reasoned that in the end, it would be be the best conditioned team that could last until the end. He would take them out to a course (maybe a golf course?) and have them jog around it a few times which ended up being about 4 miles. He realized that at a certain portion of the trail they were not in view of the coach and it was at this point that the new senior leaders of the team began to walk and to cut across the grass taking a short cut to the opposite side of the trail. They would catch up with the trail just before coming back in to view of the coach. That year, they took 3rd in State. No one will ever know if taking that shortcut cost them a championship that year.
What shortcuts do we take...why do we take them? Would our life be different if we didn't take the shortcut? Are we cutting ourselves short in the end?
*Justin Vlaardingerbroek (Kim Cahoon's brother in law)
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