I wish I could take the credit for what follows...but I'm just sharing.
I was taking my 2 youngest kids to school the other day and was listening to a CD by Bob Bennett. He has a song called, "A Song About Baseball". I've had this CD for several years now and still love it. Bob is a great songwriter and has not been given due credit in the Christian music industry. He is a master storyteller and the smoothness of his voice, as well as awesome acoustic guitar playing, just make it a major treat to be able to listen to him. I got to see/hear him about 15 years ago with Michael Card...don't even get me started on the brilliance of Michael Card.
Anyway, it was only about 2 years ago that I really listened to the Baseball song. He talks about himself, growing up playing Little League and watching games...he grew up "when the Angels still played in LA". He talks about baseball cards & bubble gum, saying "I think there's a hole in my glove", swinging with eyes closed holding his breath, dying on the way back to the bench. But then he says something that, again, after listening to this song for over 10 years, hit me...and it hit me again this morning.
"None of it mattered after the game, when my father would find me and call out my name. An ice cream, a sno-cone, a candy bar, a limousine ride in the family car...he loved me, no matter how I played...he loved me."
Life, like baseball, is not about the "game"...it's about the experience. It's about what happens after it's over. What happens if you lose in baseball? There's another game around the corner. What happens when you lose a battle in life? There's another one around the corner. What we do and how we handle it afterward is the main thing. Who we turn to can make all the difference in the world, both figuratively and literally.
I have a friend who subscribes to this blog. We have known each other for a long time. They have recently given up on God as they have known Him and they are searching...and I want to encourage them in their search, because if they are really searching, they will come full-circle and find Him, this time as He really is, not as a denomination has instructed them to see Him.
It doesn't matter if you swing and miss, it doesn't matter if, in the outfield, you lose the ball in the sun and miss the catch. It doesn't matter if you fall down running down the baseline or if you're thrown out at first...because none of it matters after the game, when your Father will find you and call out your name.
Think about it.
Showing posts with label peace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peace. Show all posts
8/25/10
3/16/10
Make Your Life Count
He was working the high steel when he saw a co-worker lose his grip. He swung out on a cable and caught him, swung back onto the girder and then lost his balance and fell. Ironic...he saved someone and then was about lose his own life. There was a loud rush of air, a blue and red blur and then his descent slowed and then stopped...and he then found himself hovering in the arms of an angel from the planet Krypton.
Yes, this was an obvious fictitious story from Superman/Action comics from the early 90's. John Henry Irons, a former employee of Lex Luthor, became a high steel worker after being fired as a weapons designer for LuthorCorp. He realized what his weapons were actually being used for and threatened to "blow the whistle" on Lex, so he was fired and discredited as an engineer. After Lex got through with his reputation, he would have been lucky to get a job engineering a new way to make children's craft projects out of popsicle sticks.
After Superman saving him from death, John thanked him profusely, to which Superman replied, "Make sure you make it (your life) worth saving."
I've always been able to find deeper spiritual truths in my hobby-reading, and this story is no less easy to parallel, so stick with me here.
Jesus came to bring us life, not just in the hereafter, but in the here and now. When we accept Him, eternal life begins right then and there - the New Testament is very clear on this fact. When He gave His life on Golgotha and rose from the dead 3 days later, He opened the door for life to truly begin for us, we just have to walk through the door.
With that being said, He also made the way for us to live a life that is pleasing to Him, one that reflects His love, grace and power. We have been told in Scripture that God, through Christ, now wishes to write His law upon our hearts, no longer on cold tables of stone. That means that His ways are alive and empowered by Him, rather than by human effort.
To be obedient to God is a way of life that requires submission to His leading and NOT just performing the duties as outlined on a checklist. Keeping a checklist is the way of man that can be found in every religion, including Western-thought tainted Christianity. The original Plan, as shown in the plain writings of Paul and the plain teachings of Jesus, make it clear that keeping rules and regulations merely for the sake of keeping them is not enough, no, on second thought, is not what is required.
What IS required is to "love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind and strength AND to love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus said that on these two principles hang all of what the Law and the writings of the Prophets depend. Paul explained further that to fulfill the Law of Love is to truly keep the Law. Does all this mean that we are free to live and do as we please? Yes and no.
YES - As St. Augustine said, "Love God and do as you please." and I couldn't agree more. If we have a real relationship with Him, then His will rules in our lives, so what pleases Him pleases us.
NO - This is not a license to sin, because if we are in Him, then we are dead to sin. When we live in disobedience to His way of Life, then we are disconnected...or as Jesus put it, we are not abiding in Him. (see John 15)
So, in conclusion, Jesus swooped down and saved us from the fall. We were careening out of control and destined to be physical and spiritual street pizza. When we recognize this, we are extremely grateful, but in turn He looks at us in compassion and says, "Make sure you make it worth saving." Then we, in turn, reach out to others and tell them about this Hero who saved us from death and that He wants to do the same for them.
Yes, this was an obvious fictitious story from Superman/Action comics from the early 90's. John Henry Irons, a former employee of Lex Luthor, became a high steel worker after being fired as a weapons designer for LuthorCorp. He realized what his weapons were actually being used for and threatened to "blow the whistle" on Lex, so he was fired and discredited as an engineer. After Lex got through with his reputation, he would have been lucky to get a job engineering a new way to make children's craft projects out of popsicle sticks.
After Superman saving him from death, John thanked him profusely, to which Superman replied, "Make sure you make it (your life) worth saving."
I've always been able to find deeper spiritual truths in my hobby-reading, and this story is no less easy to parallel, so stick with me here.
Jesus came to bring us life, not just in the hereafter, but in the here and now. When we accept Him, eternal life begins right then and there - the New Testament is very clear on this fact. When He gave His life on Golgotha and rose from the dead 3 days later, He opened the door for life to truly begin for us, we just have to walk through the door.
With that being said, He also made the way for us to live a life that is pleasing to Him, one that reflects His love, grace and power. We have been told in Scripture that God, through Christ, now wishes to write His law upon our hearts, no longer on cold tables of stone. That means that His ways are alive and empowered by Him, rather than by human effort.
To be obedient to God is a way of life that requires submission to His leading and NOT just performing the duties as outlined on a checklist. Keeping a checklist is the way of man that can be found in every religion, including Western-thought tainted Christianity. The original Plan, as shown in the plain writings of Paul and the plain teachings of Jesus, make it clear that keeping rules and regulations merely for the sake of keeping them is not enough, no, on second thought, is not what is required.
What IS required is to "love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind and strength AND to love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus said that on these two principles hang all of what the Law and the writings of the Prophets depend. Paul explained further that to fulfill the Law of Love is to truly keep the Law. Does all this mean that we are free to live and do as we please? Yes and no.
YES - As St. Augustine said, "Love God and do as you please." and I couldn't agree more. If we have a real relationship with Him, then His will rules in our lives, so what pleases Him pleases us.
NO - This is not a license to sin, because if we are in Him, then we are dead to sin. When we live in disobedience to His way of Life, then we are disconnected...or as Jesus put it, we are not abiding in Him. (see John 15)
So, in conclusion, Jesus swooped down and saved us from the fall. We were careening out of control and destined to be physical and spiritual street pizza. When we recognize this, we are extremely grateful, but in turn He looks at us in compassion and says, "Make sure you make it worth saving." Then we, in turn, reach out to others and tell them about this Hero who saved us from death and that He wants to do the same for them.
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