Thursday, September 13, 2012

September 14, 2012

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness" II Peter 1:5a

I loved playing baseball as I was growing up. I'm sure I spent thousands of practicing baseball.
My buddies and I spent long Summer days playing pick up games on a vacant lot surrounded on every side by a fence. A ball hit over the fence was a home run and we kept season statistics on home runs and runs batted in we hit a lot of homers.
Since we usually only had one baseball whoever was in the outfield would have to climb the fence each time to retrieve the ball. If the ball was hit over the right field fence you had to be careful that it didn't land in a cow pie.
After we grew bigger and stronger and it became too easy to hit the ball over the fence right handed, we turned around and learned to bat left handed. About the time we started knocking the ball out from the left side, someone bought the lot and built a house on it.
When I wasn't playing a pick up game I was involved in an organized Little League game. In the meantime I was bouncing a tennis ball off the side of a building to practice fielding grounders.
It is safe to say I was devoted to baseball. Of course, like every kid, I had the dream of playing pro baseball.
All that devotion paid off in allowing me to make it at the college level, but that was as good as it got.
Peter's admonition to "make every effort" is a challenge to devotion. It literally means "bend every energy". There was never a time on the baseball field when I wasn't "bending every energy" toward the game.
Now, as I look back I wonder what might have happened if I had devoted all that effort and energy into learning music or another language. What if I would have "bent every energy" to my studies, especially studying the Bible?
Everyone is devoted to something. Being devoted to baseball probably wasn't worth all that energy and effort.
Thankfully, I devoted myself to Someone Who is worth even more energy than I give Him. I am determined to become even more devoted!
What have you devoted yourself to? Where are you directing your energies? Is it worth it?