Last night the Memphis Grizzlies lost to the Boston Celtics 120-107, but the star of the night was still Grizzlies’ electrifying point guard, Ja Morant. Leading both teams with 38 points, he also had the most impressive dunk with a sweet alley-oop.
Die-hard NBA fans know how amazing Morant has been this year, as he made his first All-Star appearance and is in the running for MVP honors.
Night after night he’s been putting up outrageous stats and creating jaw-dropping highlights.
Yesterday’s guest on The UNPACKIN’ it Podcast, Chris Broussard, recently tweeted, “Ja Morant is the most exciting player to enter the league since Vince & Kobe.”
Although we’ve listened to NBA experts describe Morant and heard what he’s been doing this season, we haven’t been able to watch many Grizzlies games because they’re rarely on national TV.
Last night’s game was a unique opportunity for fans around the country to see for themselves what all the hype is about. Fans experienced him playing and saw with their own eyes just how talented and incredible he truly is.
It’s one thing to hear rumblings about a specific player or hear a TV analyst describe someone’s ability, but until watching a player ourselves, we can’t know how good he really is.
In a similar sense, many people hear about Jesus (they’ve seen a few “highlights”), but they’ve never truly experienced Him on their own. We can listen to pastors (“experts”) tell us how incredible and powerful He is, but we must know this to be true for ourselves.
The conversation in Mark 8:29 (NIV) is about the disciples telling Jesus what others are saying about Him and then Jesus turning it around with this question: “‘But what about you?’ He asked. ‘Who do you say I am?‘”
It’s a question all of us must answer for ourselves. We can’t rely on anyone else’s “analysis” or perspective on Him. Our own eyes and hearts must be opened to the truth.
A big change takes place when we go from hearing rumblings about Jesus and hearing someone else describe Him, to personally being able to see with our own eyes how amazing He really is!
We can pray these two prayers for ourselves and others:
“…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints…” (Ephesians 1:17-18; ESV).
“Open my eyes [to spiritual truth] so that I may behold wonderful things from Your law” (Psalm 119:18; AMP).
Today, let’s continue to seek Jesus in order to know Him personally…see His goodness for ourselves…and experience the excitement He provides for us.
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I don’t want to only hear about Jesus or rely on what others say about Him. Instead, I want to personally see Him and recognize His character for myself. Help me to experience the fullness of Christ in my own life. It’s in His name I pray, Amen.
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How would you describe Jesus?
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In what ways have you seen Him do amazing things in your life?
