Got It

Romans 8:16 is the reason I'm writing this quick post. 


In the summer of 2011 I had the privilege to be a counselor at a Christian camp. The Lord allowed me to witness the Holy Spirit convict several campers of their sin, and then watch the Spirit allow them to grasp their need for Christ, and then own the decision to trust Him fully. 


There is nothing better in the world than watching what I just described. 


We always counseled the campers through these decisions, but then we would ask the camper to write their decision in their own words. We want the kids to own it. Plus, it helps the camp staff gauge whether it was a genuine decision or not. 


One camper that trusted Christ wrote: 


"To ask forgiveness and to accept Christ as my father and savior and to love Him forever" - Week 4


The next week a camper described his decision:


"To repent of my sins and become a part of God's kingdom" - Week 5


A weeping camper who had "been 'saved' before" wrote:


"To become a child of God, no fakes, no pretending, for real" - Week 6


I had the amazing privilege of watching these campers listen to the Gospel with clouded, confused eyes. They heard the words, yet didn't understand. And then the moment would come when their eyes would clear. The Spirit would somehow, supernaturally, make the Gospel "click." The camper's eyes would become bright, big, and shiny. You didn't even have to hear it from them. You could see it in their eyes. They understood. They comprehended their need for a Savior and the abounding love that Christ has already shown them. They "got it."


The camper that really "got it" wrote this:


"To ask God to forgive my sins and the way I wanted to go" - Week 8


"The way I wanted to go"






He got it. 

Now What?

On June 21, 2012, the Miami Heat won Game 5 of the National Basketball Association Finals, defeating the Oklahoma Thunder 4 games to 1, and winning the NBA Championship. 1 team from the NBA wins the championship every year during the month of June. "David, why is this such a big deal?" Well, I'm glad you asked. 


The Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals was Lebron James. Lebron James grew up in Akron, Ohio. He played many sports as a child. Upon graduating from high school he was immediately drafted by an NBA team to play for them. He is a gifted athlete. If one were to look at his physique without knowing anything about him as a person, they would immediately know that he participates in athletic events and performs at the highest level. 


Lebron came into the NBA as a highly touted player. He went straight from high school to the highest level of organized basketball. Only the best do that. There were immediate expectations from the sporting industry's talking heads. Is Lebron the next Michael Jordan? Will he ever be as great as the greatest player? 


On June 21, 2012, Lebron won his first NBA title. At the end of his ninth year in the Association, the King finally earned his ring. The look on his face at the end of Game 5 was priceless. 


My friend Marcus said, "he looked like a kid in a candy store." 


My brother Mark added, "he looked like a sixteen year old who had been handed the car keys for the very first time." 


I agree with both Marcus and Mark. 

However, I would like to propose another option: 

The look you see on Lebron James' face in the picture above, is the look a man wears when he has just achieved his life goal. The one thing his entire life has been about and the reason he woke up every single morning and the purpose behind every set of crunches and every hour of ball-handling drills and every afternoon shoot-around and every time he said no to sugar and yes to protein and every postgame film-session and every single drop of sweat. Lebron has accomplished what he set out to do. 

He won Olympic Gold a few years ago. He won a high school national championship. He never played college basketball, but one can only dream of what he might have accomplished in the NCAA. He won the NBA regular season MVP. He was named the NBA Finals MVP. He was handed the NBA Finals Championship trophy. And just like that, he did it. Congratulations, Mr. James. 

Now what? 

No, seriously, now what?

Do you ever feel like that? Have you ever reached a point in your life where you looked around and said "now what?" I'm sure you have. But I would like to challenge you to avoid this question

As believers, we should never be in this position. We are always growing. Look at what Paul says in Philippians 3.

Paul counted himself not "to have apprehended." He acknowledged that until he reaches Heaven and is given a glorified body, he will never need to say "now what?"


Stay hungry for the Word, Christian. Don't get comfortable in the phase of Christianity you're in right now. Keep growing. 


It is not "Now What?" but 


"What's Next."