As a kid, I was chosen last for every team. The second the gym teacher picked team captains, I grew terrified. I felt humiliated and embarrassed when it got closer to the end. Deep down, I knew that everyone was laughing inside because I was never desired; I was only picked because they had to.
Even in school, the only thing I had going for me was grades. I never was one of the popular kids. I was never asked out on a date. I was never treated anything special. I was never invited to hang with the “cool” kids. I was never considered an athlete despite playing tennis. I never made varsity. I wasn’t somebody that everyone knew. I didn’t have a way with words, although I tried to force it through debate. I wasn’t witty, funny, or confident at that time. According the world, the only thing I had going for me was my brains, and even for that I had to work harder than lots of students I knew.
I’m still not picked first for teams. I still haven’t been asked out on a date. I worked for my grades, but I put less importance on them. And despite all of this, I have joy that the world sees me this way. I know that when the world picks me last, Jesus picks me first.
Jesus tells us that “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Matthew 19: 29-30
The world desires the athletic, the powerful, the rich, the hot, the famous, and the skillfull.
Jesus desires the clumsy, humble, the poor, the beautiful in heart, the unknown, and the plain.
So if you become disheartened at being picked last, remember that the One who created the entire universe desires you, and His team is the only one that matters.
