Aim Higher

He was a five-year-old who was really into basketball.

Arnie loved to shoot baskets The basket was ten feet high, and he could hardly shoot the ball that high, but he still loved it.

Dad would play basketball with Arnie sometimes. His father could shoot the ball from twenty or thirty feet away and usually make it, That was okay with the little boy. Arnie concentrated on his aim. If the ball fell a little short, Dad would congratulate him for hitting the bottom of the center of the net.

There were markings way up on the pole. Arnie wondered about them. Looking intently one day, he saw one marking said '6 FT.' The next read 7 FT, then 8 FT and 9 FT. He decided to ask his father what those words were all about.

"Son, your basketball goal is adjustable," Dad said. "The regular height for a basketball goal is ten feet. It can be set at a lower height, if we chose to do that."

Arnie considered that as he dribbled the basketball It would be easier to make baskets at a lower height. "Dad, can we try lowering the basket a little bit?"

"No, son, I don't think we should. I want you to keep on working to be a good shot at the regular height, I don't want you to settle for less You may not have noticed, but you are a better shooter every month."

"Okay, Dad. I trust you."

When Arnie's father returned to the porch to sit next to Arnie's mom, she patted his hand and smiled. 'Good advice, dear." He smiled.

Then she said, "I expect you to take your own advice."

"Okay," he said. "Explain."

"We shouldn't settle for less with God, either. We need to aim for the highest. It's too easy to go to church on Sunday, read a chapter of the Bible daily, and pray a couple minutes a day."

"You're right. Maybe I've been settling for a lower goal."