Source: Ryan McVay / Getty
I will readily admit right up front that I am a huge baseball fan…when the playoffs roll around. Watching one hundred and sixty two games over a period of six months is absolutely overwhelming to me. But when the playoffs roll around, I get just as excited as any other baseball fan. Many people would probably call that a fair weather fan(atic). My response would simply be, “guilty!” One aspect of the baseball game that I love to study is the idea of relief pitchers.
Every baseball team has a team of people who have trained, studied and are prepared at any moment to be called into the game. More often than not, these relief pitchers are the closers of the game. In other words, the starting pitcher pitches for as long as he can until his need exceeds his physical ability to continue. So, the team manager goes out, congratulates him for what he’s done so far, and signals to the bullpen for the relief pitcher to come in and help offer relief.
This person then comes in and meets the need for the team and closes the game out.
What’s amazingly clear about our lives is that with our efforts, good works, good looks and religious activity, we’ve attempted to meet a spiritual need that couldn’t be met by those things. We tried our best to win with them, and ultimately, please God with them. And while those things are good, they have never met the most important need we have. That is, the need to have something to pay the price and penalty for our sins. So, God in His wisdom, extended an invitation to His Son, Jesus, to come in and be our “relief pitcher.” Jesus gladly accepted this invitation because He understood He had what it took to meet this need.
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article courtesy of TheStreamingFaith.com/Overseer Christopher J Harris
Daily Devotional: “Relief Pitcher” was originally published on praisecleveland.com
