BASEBALL SIGNUPS

You have to sign up to be on the team!

Springtime brings a new season to the earth. A time of rebirth, renewal, and revival. Things that have lingered long dormant under the ground begins stretching and reaching for the sun. Already the spring birds are back, the robin, killdeer, buzzards, and the list goes on and on. Some animals are coming out of hibernation, like the skunks, bats, snakes, and groundhogs to mention a few.

Baseball teams are also coming out of hibernation, and into spring training so they can revive the game for the assigned season. You must be signed onto a team in order to play the game. Once you are on a team your coach gets you in shape so you can play your best for the team.

Baseball is one of the few games that does not have a clock. Each team gets an opportunity to make as many points they can before they accumulate three outs. Your goal is to hit the ball, and run to each of the three bases until you can finally reach the safety of home plate. If you are made out by being tagged, or your ball being caught, you are out of the inning, but not out of the game. The team who brings the most people home wins. It is one of the slower games of sports, but it is a team sport, and no one can win by themselves, it takes the whole team to win.

Baseball is similar to Christianity in the fact you must run the bases and come home to win the game. If you mess up and get tagged out, you get another chance to do it right the next time. In baseball a great batting average is .388/390 that means they fail ¾ of the time. In life we fail time and time again, but our coach, (Jesus) picks us up and dusts us off and sends us back into the game, forgiving us our shortcomings and gives us another chance to get it right.  We must choose if we want to be on the team, and we must follow the rules of the game. We are allowed to make mistakes, but we are expected to get better with time. Because sooner or later, we must round the last base and come home, and the umpire (God) will tell us if we are safe or out.

You sometimes are asked to sacrifice for the sake of the team like bunting, or you might go down swinging because life, like in baseball, threw you a curve. The coach may ask you to do something out of your comfort zone, like running the fastest and stealing the next base. You are afraid, but the coach knows you are ready. There are rules in both baseball and the game of life. One of the rules in baseball is you must be on the team, or when you cross home plate your run will not count. You just can’t come out of the stands and run across home.  This is what the Bible tells us about when we cross home plate; “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”, if you don’t your run will not count. God will give you many innings to get it right, He is the God of forgiveness and second chances, but when you cross home plate, your chances are over, either you signed up for his team or you didn’t.

As parents we need to teach our children about having good sportsmanship. If things don’t go as they want, they shouldn’t be allowed to throw their helmets, bats, balls or any other equipment. The key is keep trying until you get it right.  Just like in life, things will not always go our way, but if we accept it and keep trying we will glean the rewards in the end.

As authors we usually have our main characters or heroes overcome obstacles to achieve the life they hoped for, whereas wishing didn’t make it happen.  The same is true in real life, we must keep on trying and eventually we will get it right.

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Matthew 18:21-22

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly,

And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Jonah 2:1,10

It is of the Lord‘s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I John 1:9

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