LeBron and the Quest

Breaking news last night is LeBron has once again left his team in free agency. He has apparently agreed to a deal with the Lakers for the next four years. This is nothing new to LeBron who has the mentality everything is greener on someone else’s lawn. His desire to be the best makes him strive for better, this is part of the American dream.

He says his quest is to win championships. He has won three of them. However he wants more. This lust for more leads him to never be happy where he is. And since he is the best player in the NBA he has the power to control at least part of his destiny. This quest has led him to multiple teams, coaches,  choosing the players he wants on his team, and even trading player’s midseason.  

The problem with the quest for the ideal is that LeBron did not find what he is looking for in Miami or Cleveland and he will not find it in Los Angeles either. His quest has become his idol. He has put this goal above any other.

LeBron has what most American’s desire. He has money, fame, and power, yet he still wants more. I have a feeling if this LA experiment works for him and he wins four championships he will still not be content. There will always be a restlessness in him because he can only fill a void with something he is not chasing.

The quest does not stop with LeBron  and championships, money, fame and power. As Americans, we think we will be happier, better, stronger if we reach our goals but then there is always another goal. We think our country will be happier, better, stronger if we have the right people leading us, or the right laws to govern us. This quest keeps us switching jobs, cities, spouses in a lust for more. Yet we always will fall short, it will never be enough.

Jeremiah 17:5-14 says,

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
⁶ That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives.

⁷ “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
⁸ They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?

“I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”

¹¹ Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
    are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
    and in the end they will prove to be fools.

¹² A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,
    is the place of our sanctuary.
¹³ Lord, you are the hope of Israel;
    all who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust
    because they have forsaken the Lord,
    the spring of living water.

¹⁴ Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
    save me and I will be saved,
    for you are the one I praise.

            We can learn a lot from this passage.

1.      When we trust man over God we are cursed.

2.      We can be in the best place possible but still feel horrible.

3.      Those who are blessed, follow/trust God.

4.      The heart is deceitful.

5.      Searching riches leaves us short.

6.      God is our hope.

7.      Only God can heal and save us from the curse.

8.      We need to praise God.

We can learn a lot from LeBron.  But until we think differently than him we will never be happy.  Who do you trust? What do you worship? What will you continue to chase until it is too late?