“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13, NASB)
One of the casualties of our current situation is live television sporting events. Whether it is your favorite Sunday golf tournament, the NBA or NHL playoffs, or simply the start of baseball season, as the saying goes, “It ain’t happening.” For those of us who are fans, this means we can no longer tune in to our favorite team and catch up on how “we” are doing.
Because of our obsession with athletics, there are sports expressions that find their way into everyday life. From golf we use “That was par for the course.” From basketball we get, “Well, that was a slam dunk!” And if a reporter asks an easy question of a politician, we say the reporter “lobbed him a softball.” I think the most widely used one also comes from baseball: touching base. Most people think it is an expression referring to having to touch each base as you run around the bases in an attempt to score a run. I actually think it has more to do with what most runners do between pitches. Most runners go back and “touch base.” They reconnect to a place where they are safe and in no danger.
That is what we believers do when we take the time each day to connect with God. It is there, in spite of all that is going on around us, that we reconnect with him and regain our sense that we are safe. We are not only safe, but we regain the faith, strength, and confidence to face whatever comes our way during the upcoming day.
God is offering the lost a chance to touch base with him. Permanently.I have noticed in myself, though, that I often take for granted that I am safe. It is just a part of my life I do not question. Somehow—and here is my point—I forget that not everyone is so fortunate. The fact is, most people living on this planet do not have that same sense of well-being. For them, there is no safety. There is no “base” to touch between pitches, because they do not know God.
Several thousand years ago, God sent a message through Jeremiah to the Jews who were in exile in Babylon. It was a promise for their future. Despite their unfaithfulness and sin, God would restore them. In Christ, we have been offered the same—forgiveness and restoration we do not deserve. It’s the base we can touch again and again.
In 2 Peter, the apostle wrote, “God does not want anyone to perish.” Even in the middle of our current chaos, God is at work encouraging all to seek him. He’s offering the lost a chance to touch base with him. Permanently. What a promise!
All these millennia later, God’s message hasn’t changed. Neither has his call to us to share his promises. Maybe it’s time to say to a friend, “If you’re missing your sports right now, maybe it’s time to take care of something bigger in your life.”
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Bob Kuecker
May 27, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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