Last Thursday – Oklahoma 3A basketball tournament. Hugo High School has a 1 point lead over Millwood High School. 2.9 seconds left in the game. Possession arrow points to Hugo. All they have to do is hold the ball, dribble it maybe; just use up 2.9 seconds. The ball gets thrown into play.
Trey Johnson gets the ball and is momentarily confused. He turns and shoots the ball into the wrong goal. Swoosh. Clock expires. The points count – for the other team! Millwood wins the game, 38-37 and advance to the semi-finals.
Hugo’s coach said that it was the hardest locker room he’s ever spoken to. Johnson was hard to console. The next day, team members called and texted him throughout the day. I hope that his school mates are easy on him until he is able to look back on the incident and remind himself, “It’s just a game.”
Have you ever shot the wrong basket? Done something for which you have found it hard to forgive yourself? Making mistakes – even sinning – seems to be a part of life. Sometimes we find it hard to forgive ourselves when we do something that we know is wrong.
So, never left untreated the problem of over viagra prescription online masturbation. Some men experience retrograde ejaculation in vardenafil canadian pharmacy which the semen enters the urinary bladder. Also many online drug stores provide you with overnight shipping of cialiss. The cure for order generic cialis ED is now available in strength of 20 mg. Think of Peter. “I will go to Jerusalem and die with you but I will not deny you.” Peter was determined. Jesus told him the rooster would not crow until Peter had denied him three times but Peter argued with Him! Peter argued with the Man who could predict the future! But, deny Him he did. Peter went out and wept bitterly. Eventually, accepting the forgiveness of God, Peter was able to forgive himself.
Think of Pentecost. “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” the Jews cried out when Pilate wanted to release Jesus. They allowed themselves to be influenced into believing that Jesus was a fraud. Then Sunday happened. The empty tomb. God allowed the Jews to wallow in their pity for 40 days before He sent the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel of forgiveness through Peter in Acts 2. Three thousand responded; we don’t know how many of those were present at the trial of Jesus. But they accepted the forgiveness of God and were able to forgive themselves.
Peter. Pentecost. Paul. Think of Saul of Tarsus. He hated the church of Christ and wanted to destroy it. But he received a wakeup call on the road to Damascus. Jesus proved Himself alive, raised from the dead, and therefore the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Savior. Paul felt so bad about being so wrong. He considered himself the “chiefest of sinners”. But, by the grace of God, he was given the apostleship. Paul was able to forgive himself once he accepted God’s forgiveness.
When you shoot the wrong basket, accept God’s forgiveness. Once you have been baptized into Christ, that forgiveness is yours, continually. It’s just a penitent prayer away. Forgive yourself. It makes mistakes easier to bear.
–Paul Holland
