“And that’s the end of the inning. One hit, no runs, no errors, and one left on.” If you’re a Twins fan, you might have heard the late Herb Carneil or now-retired John Gordon say these words many times. Of course, leaving a man on base without getting him all the way home is always disappointing. The whole object of the game is to score runs. Our spiritual life is like this as well. The object of our faith is to get all the way home to heaven, safely.
You might picture yourself as the man on third base waiting for someone to hit the ball somewhere that will allow you to get home safely. The process isn’t always easy, because the opposition is trying to keep you from scoring. Every base runner depends on several things to help him run. Coaches give encouragement and advice. Other players do their best to advance him to the next base. And then, there’s the sacrifice play. That’s when one batter purposely hits the ball where he will be thrown out but allows another player to score. In our run around the bases of life, we depend on many people to guide us, encourage us and push us to the next base. In our spiritual journey, the only way any of us get “home” is by the sacrifice play of Jesus Christ. He willingly gave up his personal stats to make it possible for you to score! As we help our team get around the bases, let’s try not to leave any runners stranded. Oh, by the way, you’re up next! “Life is like a roll of toilet paper, the further down the roll, the faster it seems to go!” Do you ever feel that life is moving too fast? Where did the years go? How did I get those wrinkles?
I never felt old until one day, while having coffee with a number of salespeople at a real estate office, the conversation turned to the question, “Where were you when John F. Kennedy was shot?” It turned out that half the people at the table hadn’t even been born yet! That’s when I began to feel old! The Bible says that our lives are like a vapor. We are here one moment and gone the next. Because of this, I’ve decided that my number one goal in life is not to become the richest man in the nursing home. What it all comes down to is that only those things that last beyond this life are really important. So the question remains, “What are you doing that is of eternal significance?” My observation is that it’s relationships that really matter. Our relationship with God and our relationships with friends and family, these things have eternal value. What we invest in the lives of our children and our community can out-live us. What we do in discovering and knowing God will definitely out-live us. So enjoy today. Squeeze all the life out of it you can. It will never be repeated. And, while you’re at it, do something that will make a difference beyond your earthly life. God bless you and have an awesome day! One of my favorite movies is The Princess Bride. Some may think the movie is kind of corny, but the movie has a lot of good lines and it has a neat message of love conquering all. My favorite scene is when the main character, the Man in Black, has a swordfight with Inigo Montoya. Inigo is so confident of his own swordsmanship, he has predetermined to fight the Man in Black left-handed just to make the fight more of a contest. However, the Man in Black is an excellent fencer himself and tells Inigo, “You know I’m beating you.”
“Yes, I know,” says Inigo. “Then why are you smiling?” asks the Man in Black. “Because,” he replies, “I know something you do not know.” “What’s that?” asks the Man in Black. “I am not left-handed!” he declares. And then he switches hands to continue the duel with his better hand. Of course, the Man in Black was also fighting with his left hand and announced he was not left-handed either! We also can have this inner confidence in the midst of adversity in our lives. When the enemy presses in and mounts his attack against our health, or finances or relationships, we can have an inner joy that says, “I know something you do not know! I have strength you can not beat!” It is written in Philippians 4:13, “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” Christ gives us the inner strength and peace to fight on and win. He is our secret weapon. We need not go through the battle of life depending only on our own strength. That would be like sword fighting with your weaker hand. Go to the one who has promised to be your shield and defender, your strong right hand. And then you can smile in the face of adversity as you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you and protect you and give you victory! “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me!” That old rhyme ranks right up there as one of the most inaccurate clichés ever. Careless words or purposefully harmful names, in fact, do hurt us. They inflict more damage than most of us realize. “Why can’t you be more like your sister?” or “You don’t see Bobbie crying like you are, do you?” “You’re stupid, you’ll never amount to anything.” These types of statements are like seeds being planted in a person’s life. Repeated a few times and they, very likely, will become reality. How better it would be if our speech reflected something positive.
There is incredible power in the tongue. We can heal or hurt with the words we use. The Bibles says the tongue is like the spark that sets off a whole forest fire! It compares the tongue to the rudder o a large ship. It’s a small part of the ship, but it can change the direction of the whole thing. We can alter the direction of our children, employees or spouse by the words we choose to use. A word of praise and encouragement gets better results than a word of rebuke or correction. How about catching someone doing something right and letting him or her know you noticed? Try it out on a cashier at the gas station or with the next person you cross paths. Let your speech produce positive results. Guard your words carefully; they’re hard to put back once they come out. And, as my mom always said, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” One of the first things children are taught when they reach pre-school age is how to call home. It’s important for every child old who may venture out to know his parents’ phone number and home address. Knowing how to reach home can be a valuable safety measure as well as a convenience to parents.
Of course, as kids get older, they often forget to call home and sometimes cause all kinds of anxiety for their parents. It isn’t that they don’t know how to call, it’s just not that important in their minds. That’s similar to the way we often are with our Heavenly Father. We learn to “call home” as children by saying bedtime prayers and meal-time grace, but later, we often go on our merry way forgetting to check in with the father. Just as parents want to hear from their children, so God, our Heavenly Father, wants to hear from us. Not just when we’re in trouble, either. He’s interested in every aspect of our lives and longs to get a call from us. The Bible says in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call onto me and I will answer you.” God is saying, “Why don’t you initiate a call to me? I am sitting here by the phone waiting for your call. Tell me how your life is going. I am available if you need help or need a friend to talk to.” Take a moment to call home! You do remember the number, don’t you? “Trust me.” “Take my word for it.” Have you ever heard these statements? You had a legitimate question, but the answer you got was, “Just trust me.” A lot of people rely only on what other people tell them to be true. Some people depend upon their pastor or priest to tell them what the Bible says. Even though I have a lot of confidence that a clergy person can help us get truth from the Bible and understand it, no one should ever use them as their only source of Biblical truth. I can’t stress enough the value of personal time spent reading the Word of God, the Bible.
The scriptures challenge each of us as individuals to “study to show yourselves approved, a workmen that correctly handles the word of truth.” I encourage you: don’t take my word for it! Check it out for yourselves. Otherwise you will be apt to believe something that may not be true. II Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The Bible is a gift from God to us, a gift to be used and applied. Of course you’re not going to understand everything you read. I know I don’t. But God will give you wisdom to understand what you need for the circumstances of your life. Certainly, ask questions of your pastor. He or she will be thrilled to know you’ve been reading the Word. Be a man or woman of the Word. It will change your life because it is the power of God unto salvation. “You’ve been adopted!” Every orphan wants to hear those three words. Families that have opened their hearts and homes to a child know what it’s like to go through the agonizing waiting and hoping period while the legal process is completed to officially recognize a child as their own son or daughter. The child has a new name, a new home, and a new heritage. He or she becomes entitled to all the benefits of this new family: the food, the shelter, the clothing, and most of all, the love of a father and mother. For whatever reason, the birth parents were not able or willing to give the child the care it deserved and needed. The adoptive parents assumed all of those responsibilities.
What if the child refused the adoption? What if they chose to continue to live as orphans, or remain in a neglected home, even though the adoption had all been arranged and paid for? That wouldn’t seem probable, much less very wise. The Bible says that God’s gift to us is his offer to adopt us into his family. It says that Jesus Christ paid for the adoption with his own death on the cross. Whoever trusts in him has the right to become one of God’s children. This offer is to everyone, everywhere. Many people, however, reject God’s gift. They choose to try to make it on their own. That’s sad, because they cannot enjoy all the benefits that come with the adoption. Only by accepting God’s offer can we hope to live forever in his kingdom. Only by trusting Christ can we have access to the help and power and advice of the Heavenly Father. Will you take God up on his offer? You can be a child of the King! Your Heavenly Father is waiting to hear from you! I can't wait to have some homegrown tomatoes! There's nothing like a tomato that’s vine-ripened! Compared to the store-bought ones available to us in the winter, it's like comparing a Harley Davidson motorcycle to a three-wheeled bicycle. Why is there such a difference in the taste and texture? I have been told that it's in the length of time the tomato is on the vine. Store-bought tomatoes that come from who-knows-where have to be picked while they are still green. They haven't had the benefit of the extra days of receiving nutrients that give flavor and juiciness.
The Bible tells us in John 15 that if we expect to achieve our potential, we have to "abide in the vine." Jesus said he is the vine. To "abide in the vine" simply means to hang out with Jesus! If we detach ourselves from Him and His leadership, we cut ourselves from the life-giving power he wants us to receive. We need the nutrients of God's love and wisdom in order to know the best course for our lives. The fullness of life we experience is proportional to the amount of time we spend hanging out with Jesus. It is God's plan for us to be connected with Him everyday, all-day. Not just at church or at home. Stay attached to the life-giving power of God through Jesus Christ. Otherwise, you’ll be as bland as a store-bought tomato in January. May the Lord be with you today! |
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