Step up to the plate

As I step up to the plate to bat, there are already two outs. I know that I do not want to be that third out so the first pitch that comes to me (no pressure at all, right?), I swing my bat at it.  

The ball flies just far enough for me to make it to first base.  

The next person steps up to the bat, gets three strikes, and the inning ends.

Two games ago I was standing in the outfield and had this thought that while in this particular sport we get three strikes before we are out, and three outs before we switch positions on the field with the other team, I am thankful we get many more chances in life. 

Our friends give us second chances (and sometimes third and fourth chances too), our parents are supposed to love us unconditionally no matter how many times we strike out, and God gives us infinitely more chances than anyone else to turn to Him.

Could you imagine if He did not?  If God's love and our eternity depended on the number of strikes we've made in life?  Get three and you're out...that would be terrible!  No one would make it to eternity, which is why we need Jesus.

I have also learned a lot while playing this game.  I've learned what true sportsmanship looks like, how to slow my competitive spirit down, and what teamwork truly is.  

When I was younger, I used to hate to wait around for my teammates to get a ball and instead I would go for it.  I would also get angry when we lost.  I always felt like I had to be the best because my parents were there watching and I didn't want to let them down and show them that I was a failure. That happened with any sport I played, and if they weren't there, I wanted to win so I could go home and tell them that I had done well.  

But I realized that the only person I should be living my life for is God, and He doesn't care if I win or lose a game, just that I stepped up to the plate and tried my best- and that I used the outcome for His Glory.  So the next time you find that you are being competitive or are looking for accolades, don't look to the people around you, look to your Father, the one who breathed you into existence and knew you before you were conceived.  Because nothing here on earth will matter or mean anything when it comes time to stand before God, unless it was done to further the Kingdom of God.