12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The NBA Finals are now set - the Boston Celtics will face the Dallas Mavericks, while the other 28 teams are making decisions during this offseason period regarding how they will improve.
This was a hopeful year for the Orlando Magic, which actually made the playoffs and was the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. And, one of the key players for the team was Jonathan Isaac. A Movieguide article reported that Isaac...
...told podcaster Rebecca Lamb Weiss how one night while in bed, he had “this overwhelming feeling of preaching.”
“If we would just do what God is asking us to do, we would reap the benefits of it. But a lot of times, we want what God has for us, but we’re not obedient,” Isaac said, recalling the word God gave him in that moment. “And so I was saying that to myself, and…something was just saying, ‘Preach, preach, preach,’ and I was doing it.”
The athlete continued, “And then I went and told my pastor. I said, ‘Hey. I had this weird thing.’ He’s like, ‘You need to preach.’ I’m like, ‘I need to what?’ I’m like, ‘There’s absolutely no way I’m gonna preach.'”
Not only did Isaac’s pastor invite him to come preach, but he challenged Isaac to invite his teammates as well.
The article linked to a previous Movieguide piece that mentions that Isaac, during the "bubble" season in 2020, was the only player on his team to stand for the National Anthem. It said that Jonathan "pointed to God and his faith as the motivation behind his solitary act" and relates that "Isaac wrote a book to explain that his journey to courageous faith began long before his career in the NBA."
According to Movieguide, Isaac appeared on Kirk Cameron's Takeaways show. The article says that...
... even after Isaac established himself as the number one player in the State of Florida, playing for Florida State University, and being drafted to the Orlando Magic, he struggled with anxiety and fear.
Isaac said that he began to live the “NBA player lifestyle,” and would only pray to God when circumstances were difficult. Despite growing up in Church, Isaac recalled not surrendering his life to Christ.
In his rookie year in the NBA, Isaac said that God brought specific people into his life to turn him from his life of sin and anxiety to a real relationship with Christ.
“I’m thankful to God that he brought the right people into my life,” he told Cameron.
Ultimately, through being challenged, Isaac surrendered to the Lord, The article goes on to say:
“The time that I decided that I’m gonna live my life for Christ, that’s when The Growing Pains really started,” he explained. “How do I balance this life of deciding to live for Christ and being an NBA basketball player who previously was living the NBA basketball player lifestyle?”
Isaac said he began to cut out bad relationships from his life and invite his teammates to church when he spoke to the congregation about his testimony.
“When the stand happened so many people came out and said Jonathan Isaac is the most courageous guy and the most bold guy but the thing that was striking to me was knowing the process that it took for me to get there. It tells me that God obviously knows the future, He obviously knows what he’s preparing us for but even more so, the only thing that is more terrifying to the enemy than us becoming a Christian is us becoming who God has created us to be and growing and forming into the image of his son and being able to do what he’s called us to do.”
Jonathan Isaac realizes the importance of obedience - and of courage. He bought into a lifestyle that was antithetical to the teachings of Scripture, and early in his NBA career, he was called out for it. He surrendered his life to Christ, and now he has surrendered his life to preach.
And, as he told Kirk Cameron, ironically enough, he experienced "Growing Pains" on his road to spiritual maturity. While the Christian life will certainly be rewarding, we know that it is not without a certain amount of straining - we have to accept what Jesus has done for us and appropriate His power daily, applying His resurrection power so that we might put to death the works of the flesh.
Paul refers to this straining in Philippians 3, but we can confidently and courageously confront the challenges of our lives and recognize that, in light of the price Jesus has paid for us, we can embrace His resources and live a life of victory and joy.
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