PLAYING FOR ANOTHER TEAM
NBA stars CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard spent nearly nine seasons playing together with the Portland Trail Blazers. Then for this season, McCollum was traded to New Orleans, where he made the Pelicans part of the conversation in the 2022 playoffs. For over eight years, McCollum and Lillard became close friends and adapted their play styles to enhance the strengths of the other. This year, Lillard had to watch his friend play in a different jersey. “It’s weird, man,” Lillard said. “It’s weird to see him enjoying playing with somebody else. It’s almost like a little bit of jealousy, like…man, he’s having fun playing with them.” But when the trade happened, it did make sense to Lillard. “Look at their team: They got the talent; they got the youth mixed with a little bit of experience—and you throw [CJ] into the mix, and you really got something.”
SERVING ANOTHER MASTER
Before salvation, every person serves sin. Paul says we’re all slaves to sin outside of the Lord. But when we come to Christ, we switch teams. We switch alliances and masters, and we become available to serve Jesus instead. Paul speaks of it as a death and resurrection. New Christians are set free to offer themselves as slaves not to sin, but to the risen Lord.
Questions
- When has someone you had partnered with become allied with a new person or group? How did you feel about it?
- In what ways can someone be enslaved to sin?
- How can Christians make sure they never enter again into slavery to sin?
