“Linsanity!”

By now you’ve probably heard of Jeremy Lin, an Asian-American pro basketball player from Harvard who was undrafted and cut twice from NBA teams, who has been taking the pro sports world by storm lately. Until about a month ago, he was only a backup to the backup to the backup…for the New York Knicks.

After Lin outscored Kobe Bryant (Lin’s 38 points to Bryant’s 34 points) and led the Knicks to victory over the Lakers on February 10, Bryant observed, “Players playing that well don’t usually come out of nowhere. It seems like they come out of nowhere, but if you can go back and take a look, his skill level was probably there from the beginning. It probably just went unnoticed.” The buzzword in New York lately is “Linsanity!”

Jeremy Lin is also a committed Christian and wants to become a pastor someday. After games Lin quietly thanks “Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, for giving me this opportunity.” His behavior and demeanor despite incredible odds exudes humility and a Christlike spirit.

Something Lin said in a 2010 interview (long before “Linsanity!”) makes me like this guy even more. This is the attitude that every believer should have about everything, and Jeremy Lin says it best: “I’m not working hard and practicing day in and day out so that I can please other people. My audience is God….The right way to play is not for others and not for myself, but for God.”

As we continue with our 40 days of fasting and prayer for spiritual breakthrough, let’s check our motives for why we do what we do…

I’m praying for you!