07/10/2022
As we pick up our cross, and follow Jesus, are our eyes fixed on him alone? If so then we will walk a straight path, because our Heavenly Father has made that path straight for Jesus, and we are meant to walk it with Him. If we listen to the teaching, and follow every step that Jesus walks, placing our foot where His has been, then we will be as He is, and live in eternity before our Father as He does. Are our eyes fixed on Him? Are we learning every lesson we are being taught?
“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Proverbs 3:6 ESV
Life is a twisting and winding road when left up to the world to construct, but when we allow the Lord to make our way, then we find that our road is as straight as an arrow, and the walk is level, and easy. When we walk this divinely constructed road then we needn’t worry about which way we should go because the right direction is always straight ahead. Today let’s turn to Proverbs, and baseball for our instruction…
“Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.”
Proverbs 4:25 ESV
When my sons played little league baseball as boys, and my girls played fast pitch softball, I taught them the skills needed to play the game. When it was their turn to bat, I would shout encouragement to them, but I would also yell instructions like “Keep your eye on the ball!” You see, keeping your eye on the ball was something my father taught me, and that I was teaching my children. My father always said that if you kept your eye on the ball then your arms would automatically direct your bat to the ball, and you would hit it. This was always a mystery to me, but it worked, and those words echo in my mind to this very day. Oh, sometimes you might swing a bit too fast and be ahead of the ball, or too slow and be behind it, but all in all, the bat will follow the trajectory of the ball, and most of the time you will hit it. This is true of our faith as well… if we desire our lives to be like Jesus’, then we must keep our eye on Him. If we lose our focus, and think more about the score, or being a hero by hitting a home run, then we will miss Him altogether..
“Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.”
Proverbs 4:26 ESV
I think back today to the years when I was first learning to play baseball, and my own my father would stand me in the proper batting position and watch me as I practiced my swinging motion. He would tell me to raise my back elbow align my body with the plate, or rotate my hips. We would stand there for hours as I swung the bat, and he tweeked my swing until he was satisfied with it. Once I stepped into the batter’s box during a game it was to late to perfect this skill, because by that time it had to be automatic, and done without thinking. Once I stepped up to home plate my sole focus had to be on the ball, and I couldn’t do that if I was worried about whether my elbow was up or the motion of my swing. This relates to our faith too… if we haven’t determined that Jesus is our Savior, that God is with us, and know their commands and commandments, long before we are facing temptation then we will be thinking about those things, and won’t be keeping our eye on Jesus. If we haven’t practiced the mechanisms of our faith to the point that they pop into our minds without thinking, then how will we be able to rebuff Satan’s temptations like Jesus did? How will the right scripture come to us perfectly, and in the heat of the moment? We need to swing the bat of our faith over and over again until we can do so with little to no thought.
“Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.”
Proverbs 4:27 ESV
There are two more important keys to hitting a baseball; the first is to step straight forward as you swing the bat, and are going through your batting motion. Stepping directly towards the pitcher brings momentum and power to your swing, and aligns your body with the direction that the ball is coming from. The second and final motion is to turn your hips at just the right moment so that it will multiply the power of your swing. By stepping straight forward you are following the path of the ball, and then when you turn your hips you are rotating without moving into or out of the ball’s trajectory. All of your power will thus be focused on the point of contact. In our faith we do this as well, we follow right behind the Lord, and do so without deviating, or losing the power of our stride. Then, when we are facing imminent temptation and Satan thinks he is about to overcome us, we rotate our hips and multiply the power that has been building within us. At this moment we are joining together all of our faithfulness into one smooth motion by swinging in absolute confidence,,keeping our eye on Jesus, stepping straight and courageously towards Satan, and then turning the hips of our prayer, and magnifying our power, by calling on the name of Jesus. At that instant we hear a loud sound that echoes like thunder, and the temptation of the moment is sent sailing away towards the outfield fence… victory! Are we spending time in the yard with our Heavenly Father in preparation for this moment? Are we teaching our children to bat as He has taught us?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the straight path you have prepared for us, and that you guide us down as we take each step along its way. Encourage us in the direction we should go Lord, and don’t let us swerve right or left as we follow Jesus home to you. Teach us to move perfectly as we walk towards you, and as we move forward from righteousness to holiness, and eventually into eternity in your presence. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God, and our Heavenly Father, who teaches us the way to live in righteousness, and how to be as you are. Praised be your name for every wayward step that you have corrected in us, and for each time you forgave us when we missed the mark and stepped off the path you had prepared for us. Merciful are you who loves us despite our imperfections, and then works with us to correct them. Your grace covers us, and although we might swing and miss in life, we still hear you calling words of encouragement to us, and shouting “Keep your eye on the ball!” From the bleachers. At the end of the day Father, regardless of what the scoreboard might reflect, we will be victorious, have won the game in your eyes, and you will wash the dust of sin from us with the blood of Jesus, as you say to all who will listen “This is my child in whom I am well pleased.” The strikes, the balls, the home runs, and the outs, all coming together within our faith in Jesus, and your amazing grace, to bring us safely home.
Rich Forbes