Not Today

Lesson 1: Not Today

So how do these lessons work? It goes something like this:

The boys are doing a drill. Maybe it's a shuffle drill or a defensive drill or a rebounding drill, or whatever. As they are doing the drill, I'll come up and yell in their faces.

"You're gonna miss that shot!"

And they yell back.

"Not today!"

See how that works?

"Their forward has scored at least 20 points in the last 3 games!"

"Not today!"

It's about overcoming the odds. It's about determination and refusing to be intimidated. It's about believing in what you can do, not just what you have done. Some of these boys haven't grown much yet. Others are monsters. I only have 9 boys on my team this year. Three are under 5 feet tall. One is 6'5". Remember, these are 7th and 8th graders. 12 to 14 year olds. As they grow, their coordination is, well, questionable at times. So they've become accustomed to being clumsy. They have resigned themselves to a certain percentage of failure.

That attitude has no place on my basketball court. That attitude has no place in this life.

It doesn't matter a whit what they did yesterday. It's irrelevant what they do tomorrow. They have a choice to make right now. A choice about today.

Have they dribbled it off their foot? Oh, yes. But not today.
Have they airballed a shot? Many times. But not today.
Have they been out-rebounded by teams that work harder? Yep. But not today.
Does that other team want it more? Not today.
Does that other team have more heart? Not today.
Are they going to fail? No. Not today.

They have fun with it because they quickly start to understand that it's not always about basketball.

Are they going to be lazy and skip their homework? Not today.
Are they going to feel sorry for themselves because that girl didn't smile back? No, not today.
Are they going to make any of a thousand excuses for failure instead of getting the job done? Not today.

And the end of season lesson?

They failed to prepare for a test, and now they have a perfect opportunity to cheat without anyone else knowing. Will they do it?
The world will challenge them every day to choose it over the Will of God. Are they going to listen to the lies of the world?
Their hormones will tempt them to break faith with Jesus and to use their bodies in a way not meant outside marriage. Will they give in?
Satan is waiting around every corner, within every decision. Every decision of every day is a choice to accept the Will of God or to turn away from God and sin. Each morning, these boys will face the sunrise with the opportunity to be righteous or to sin. Will they defy their Maker? Will they take the easy path and give in to Satan's crooning?

No. No way. Ain't gonna happen. Not today.