I have played tee-ball, baseball, and softball for almost my entire life. I missed a couple of summers when I was in my twenties but I am still swinging the bat and running the bases on my church softball team. See a previous post:

Again…and again…yet again.

Last weekend, I had the privilege of performing a wedding ceremony on a baseball field. We were in left field and not on the actual dirt part though. This post was inspired by the sermon I gave at that wedding.

In baseball, you need a glove, a bat, and a ball to play the game. These are essential.

These items represent different parts of the game.

The glove represents defense. The glove I use is over 20 years old. If it could speak, it might tell of the countless times that it saved me from certain disaster. =-)

The bat represents offense. Bats are as different and varied as the players who use them. The common denominator is that we all need a bat if we are going to hit the ball.

The ball represents the game. It is the game. Everything revolves around the ball. Without it, you cannot play baseball.

As a follower of Christ, the glove, bat, and ball can represent three aspects of following Jesus.

The glove represents defense. 2 Samuel 22 starts out with these verses, “David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior from violent people you save me.”

God is the ultimate defense when are faced with troubles and trials.

The bat represents offense. 2 Corinthians 10 explains the offense, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

God gives us what we need to be victorious as we follow Him.

And finally, the ball. The ball is everything. Nothing can or will happen without it. The ball represents Jesus.

Here is what Colossians 1 says, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Jesus is everything. No point in living unless life is lived in Jesus.

So whether you are watching some Major League Baseball, playing co-ed softball on a church team, following Christ or living for yourself, let me remind you of one thing:

Keep your eye on the ball!