The Streak Comes to an End

One of the most impressive streaks in NBA history ended on Thursday evening, as Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ run of consecutive games scoring at least 10 points came to an end at an astonishing 1,297 games.

Before last night against the Toronto Raptors, the last time that James had failed to produce double-figures in the scoring column was all the way back in January of 2007 during his fourth season in the league.

To put James’ historic streak into perspective, the player who ranks second on the list of consecutive games with 10 or more points is Michael Jordan, who scored in double-digits in 866 straight contests (431 behind James). 

But one of the most fascinating parts about the end of his incredible streak is the manner in which it ended.

With the game tied at 120 in the waning seconds, James needed just two more points to extend his streak to 1,298 contests. But rather than putting up the final shot when he found himself with the ball in his hands with just a few seconds remaining, he drove the lane and kicked the ball out to an open Rui Hachimura, who buried a corner three as the buzzer expired to give the Lakers the win.

James’ decision to pass the basketball shocked many who were watching. It was hard for many people to imagine that James would pass up an opportunity to extend his streak and hit a game-winner to pass the ball to a more open teammate. 

That, however, is precisely what James did.

"LeBron is acutely aware of how many points he has at that point," Lakers coach JJ Redick commented after the game, indicating that James knew that passing the ball would mean the possibility of his streak coming to an end.

In fact, when asked after the game what his thoughts were about his streak coming to an end, James commented, “None. We won.”

In a day and age when many athletes seem to have an unhealthy obsession with their personal statistics, it was refreshing to see a player of James’ caliber make such a selfless decision, willing to sacrifice personal accolades for a greater cause.

When it comes to our lives as followers of Jesus, we know that we have been called to live a life that isn’t focused on our own personal glory but on the glory of God.

As Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 16:24 (ESV), “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”

Since the purpose of life is ultimately to glorify God, any attempt to live a life guided by selfish desires leads both to God not being glorified to the fullest and to us not experiencing the best that God has for us.

Unfortunately, we can easily be tempted to move our focus away from being God-centered toward our own personal accolades, ambitions, or pleasures. We can get so caught up in focusing on ourselves that we lose sight of what is most important: living a life of wholehearted devotion to God.

The key to living a God-focused life begins not simply by “trying harder” but by focusing our thoughts on what the Lord has done for us. The more we consider the riches of God’s kindness, grace, and mercy towards us, the more we will be motivated to want to live for Him.

In Galatians 2:20 (NASB), the Apostle Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

When Paul talks about living a life that is focused on living for Christ, he makes sure to point out that he does so because of what Christ had first done for him.

We can even see Paul's progression toward becoming increasingly focused on glorifying God at all costs as we look further into his apostolic ministry.

In Acts 20:23-24 (NIV), when speaking about the impending persecutions and sufferings he was about to face, Paul said, “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

Today, may we have the same attitude as Paul. May we be increasingly less concerned about self-preservation or self-gratification as we turn our attention to living fully for the Lord so that He might be glorified in all that we say, think, and do.

Let's resolve to have the same attitude that John the Baptist demonstrated when speaking about Jesus in John 3:30 (LSB): “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

In other words, let’s pass the ball to Him!

I’m Matt Osborne, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the times that I have lived selfishly. You have been more kind to me than I deserve, and I desire to live my life wholly for You. Please strengthen me so that I might die to myself to live for You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.