By Matt Osborne, Staff Writer
Playing without the services of LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers were amazingly able to overcome a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 128-124 in double overtime last night.
The Lakers’ comeback efforts were led by Anthony Davis, who scored 34 points and hauled in 23 rebounds in nearly 53 minutes on the court.
Three of Los Angeles’ starters (Davis, D’Angelo Russell, and Austin Reaves) played 48 minutes or more in the team’s victory on Tuesday night.
With the team having to turn around and play the second leg of a back-to-back Wednesday night in Memphis, the team is having to refuel their tanks for another grueling contest after expending so much energy to earn a victory against the Bucks.
In his postgame press conference, Lakers’ coach Darvin Ham commented, “Now we got to fill our cups back up and try to go play against a really hard-playing, highly competitive Memphis team.”
In sports, you can never rest upon what you have recently accomplished. There’s always another game and another opponent awaiting you. Failure to “fill your cup” after expending maximum effort could have disastrous consequences.
As followers of Jesus, it’s also important to recognize the importance of “filling our cups” daily.
Each day is filled with temptations, challenges, and difficulties, and a tremendous amount of energy is needed to conduct our lives in a way that pleases the Lord.
Between resisting a bombardment of temptations, fulfilling our daily requirements at work or home, and choosing to prioritize others’ needs, it’s easy to feel worn out and exhausted from the grind.
While there’s an appropriate time and place for rest and relaxation, we know another “opponent” is waiting, and we must “fill our cups” daily to be positioned for victory.
In Matthew 6:11 (ESV), Jesus told His disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Such a prayer is simple, but it’s a powerful acknowledgment that we rely upon the Lord to give us the strength and provision required for the day ahead. We can’t rest on the laurels of what we accomplished yesterday. Rather, we must allow the Lord to fill our cups for the day ahead.
That’s why daily spending time in God’s Word and prayer is important to our effectiveness as believers. If we don’t “fill our cups” every day, we won’t have what’s needed to pour into the lives of others.
Let’s not assume that yesterday’s victories will automatically translate into success today. Instead, let’s remember our desperate need for the Lord’s strength, and take the necessary steps to “fill our cups” in Him.
I’m Matt Osborne, and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for being so faithful in filling me up as I seek after You. Please help me to recognize my dependency upon You, and give me increased discipline to spend time in daily communion with You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
