A Lesson from SportsCenter

"amazing things"

Joshua 3:5

I am not what you'd call a Morning Person.  My eyes want to take more than a few minutes to adjust to every new day.  So I generally turn on the TV to help me get my brain going, and my eyes open.

A lot of the time, what I turn on is the news, just to see if anything has happened that I need to know about.  But when it's baseball season, the first thing I turn on is ESPN.  I like getting the baseball highlights, seeing which players made great plays, and which teams won.  One of the things that SportsCenter does is the "Top Ten", which are the ten best plays in sports from the day before.  The highlights come from a variety of sports, but during baseball season, the majority of them are baseball-related.

Many of the amazing baseball plays are those that require unusual effort.  Now, you might think that all amazing plays require unusual effort, but some of them are just about being at the right place at the right time.

And most of the amazing plays are great catches, almost always characterized by the player reaching, jumping or diving beyond what seems possible.  We find ourselves astounded because it didn't seem like he was going to be able to do that.  But he did.

So here are my spiritual observations on outstanding physical efforts.

1.)  It's going to take preparedness.  For them, it's training and daily practice.  For us, it's prayer and Bible reading, strengthening us for the time when we are called to give more than we think we are able to.  Then, when that time comes, we need to try, exert, or strive more than we think we are able.  When we do, we'll find that He enabled us to do something amazing.

2.)  When an athlete has given everything he has in order to make a great play, he is vulnerable.  I watch these guys making catches, or stopping a ball, or the guy on first catching the ball for the out.  They are literally reaching, stretching to their full length.  The chance for injury is increased in these positions.  Muscles get strained and ligaments get torn more easily; a fielder running for a fly ball can twist an ankle... When we give our all, we might get hurt.  Loving others makes us vulnerable.  As a friend of mine says, "Being a shepherd is hard ~ sheep bite!"  Going out on a limb to serve Him is a risk, whether it's going on a mission, teaching Sunday School, or volunteering for a charity.

And lastly ~ 3)  Most of these great catches have to be immediately followed by.... yup ~ a great throw.  In the infield, if it wasn't a fly ball, a catch has to be followed by getting the ball to first base to get the batter out.  In the outfield, it has to be gotten back to the pitcher in a hurry, to prevent the runners from advancing.  So no matter how amazing the catch, the player's job is not done.  There is no time for resting on his laurels.  For us, walking a faithful life is a long-term proposition.  Our success has to be followed by another effort... and then another one after that.  That endurance calls for relying on Him, not to mention that preparation we talked about in #1.   But the results will be amazing!

~ "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow

 the Lord will do amazing things among you" ~

Joshua 3:5