The other day my eight-year-old son Jacob and I were talking about whether or not he wanted to continue with Karate. Let me give you a little bit of background. Jacob begged to start taking Karate for a couple of years after he turned five. Because of schedules and whatnot, we weren’t able to actually sign him up for it until he was seven. That was last fall.
He was a natural (at least that is what he will tell you everyone says to him). He picked it up quick, and what was supposed to be a once-a-week thing turned into and three or four days-a-week thing. He couldn’t get enough of it, but then something started to happen. He began to miss his free time. He still loved karate, but he felt like he didn’t have any free time to play or hang out with his friends. Then, to top it all off, he had some medical issue that have kept him out of karate for the last couple of months. That’s what sparked our conversation this past weekend. It went something like this (I’m paraphrasing):
ME: So, do you want to go back to karate?
JACOB: Well, sort of yes sort of no.
ME: What do you mean?
JACOB: Well, I like all the extra time I have, but Karate is kind of what I’m known for.
ME: What do you mean by that? (Yes, it is one of my favorite questions.)
JACOB: Well, it’s something I’m good at, and when people thing of me they think of Karate. It’s what I’m known for.
ME: Is that what you want?
JACOB: No, I want to be known for Jesus!
There it was, another of what I’ve started to call “Jacob moments.” The moments where God speaks through my young son with wisdom beyond his years to convict me of things in my own life!
It’s easy to get caught up in the things we are good at and forget who gave us the ability to be good at them. So, what are you known for? What do people think of when they think of you? Is it Jesus? Why not?