All Out!

Tom Barnard

 

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life.’”

(Matthew 16:24-25 NLT)

 

No professional baseball player played with greater dedication and intensity than former Kansas City Royals star George Brett. Throughout his career he gave all that he could give to become a Hall-of-Fame player. In an interview he was asked by a reporter what he wanted to do in his last at-bat before retiring from baseball. The three-time batting champion gave the following response:

 

“I want to hit a routine grounder to second and run all out to first base, then get thrown out by a half step. I want to leave an example to the young guys that that’s how you play the game—all out.”

 

The Christian life is not for the faint-hearted and the lazy. It is a demanding life that calls for a full commitment to go all out to be the best that one can be. If we follow the example of Jesus, we will go anywhere, do anything, and give of our very best in service to him. It is in “losing” our life that we will “find it,” and it is denying ourselves that we will develop the skills needed to follow closely after Jesus.

 

“Heavenly Father, I know there is a price to pay to become a champion. I have known people who have tried to find short-cuts to success in their moral and spiritual lives, and they have failed. I not only want to be a spiritual success, but I also want to be an example of excellence to those who look up to me. I don’t want to be a ‘loser’ in life, unless it is losing myself in service to Jesus Christ. Thank you for pushing me to become authentic in my faith as a follower of the True Champion, Jesus Christ. Amen.”