Devotion 7.2.15

There is a fine line between a ball player in Triple A baseball and the majors.  So I once heard from a friend of mine who pitched in the Philadelphia system at the Triple A level for a few years.  For the pitcher, the fastball may not move enough, or there isn't enough variation in his pitches, and to be truthful, it may all be right here, he said as he pointed to his head.  The mental part of the game is the toughest.

To me, that meant that the true MLB player knows one thing - they have never arrived. After reading three books on Nolan Ryan, you know he knew this in his heart.  He was a workhorse, never assuming that he could coast on being Nolan Ryan.  Tony Gwynn was like this as well.  In reading coverage of Tony during his prime as a San Diego hitting machine, I learned that Tony spent hours watching video of himself and opposing pitchers.  Trying to find that little nuance in their game (meaning if he observed him standing on the mound just before he threw the ball in a certain place on the rubber) he knew which pitch would come.

So what of the Christian?  Do we believe that at some point, we've actually arrived?  Does the Christian ever pause and say, "I'm there."  Hopefully not.  There is a fine line we walk as we discuss our lives, even in this "Summer of Health," when we speak of our health and give ourselves assessments of where we are in body, mind, and spirit.  Hopefully, we are never heard saying, "I'm spiritually healthy.  People need to come to me and seek my wisdom 'cause baby, I am there."

Paul talks to us in 1 Timothy.  "Train yourselves for godliness; for while training the body is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also the life to come.  For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." (4:7 - 9)

We train ourselves yes, but we keep our eyes on our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Our only source of redemption is through him, and as we seek to train ourselves, it is only to serve him better.

Peace in the risen Christ as you enjoy your summer and as we seek to explore better ways to serve him.