If You Want To Be First
“So the last will be first, and the first last.” – Matthew 10:16 “If you want to be first, be last” might sound puzzling, but it holds real-life wisdom. When I was a kid, I loved basketball and played on my school team. I wasn’t the best, but I made the varsity squad as a power forward, usually starting—though not always. I’d say I was the third- or fourth-best on the team. At school, everyone knows the team rankings. But at the park on weekends, or after moving to a new school (which happened to me several times), nobody knows your skills. In pickup games, they judge you by how you look—mainly your height! I vividly remember the first time we played pickup basketball: the two best players picked teams, and I was chosen last. It felt terrible—like everyone assumed I couldn’t play, just because of my appearance. But that
