My brother, Mark, and his wife, Sheila, are here from Michigan to meet their newborn grandson, Fisher. One evening, they joined us and lots of other family members at our grandson’s baseball game. Together we were a “great cloud of witnesses” cheering for him to hit the ball, run the bases and make it home.
Lincoln stepped up to home plate. His coach said, “Watch me when you’re running.” His grandfather mimed for him to choke up on the bat; his sister shouted “Stand closer to home base”, his mom encouraged him, “You’ve got this, Lincoln!”, and Mark, his great-uncle, was poised with the camera. Each one had an important role to play in him making it all the way home.
He hit a stand-up triple. We clapped and cheered and high-fived each other like we had hit that ball and run those bases ourselves. But he still had a bit of a way to go to make it home. Another player had to hit, too, for Lincoln to succeed. Sure enough another player stepped up to bat, hit the ball and Lincoln made it home.
Who of us isn’t trying to handle not only what’s thrown at us in life, but to make it all the way to our heavenly home? And who of us does not have some words of advice or encouragement to pass along to another as they step up to the plate? And who of us is not hoping for someone else’s success at bat that makes it possible for our efforts, too, to be completed? Whether we are “up to bat”, or we are in the bleachers, we have an important part in getting everyone home.
“I am sprinting toward the only goal that counts: to cross the line, to win the prize, and to hear God’s call to resurrection life found exclusively in Jesus the Anointed.” – Philippians 3:14 (VOICE)