The Grace of God: More Than a Baseball Game

One pastor explained our walk like a baseball game.

"Jesus has already hit the home run. All you have to do is hit the home bases."

At first, this view on the Gospel sounded good.

Then I found myself facing more bondage.

How should I run the bases? Should I be doing what I am doing? Am I missing the bases?

Right away, the moment that someone, anyone adds: "All you have to do.  . .".

We do not add one thing to all that Jesus has done:

"8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2: 8-10)

We cannot run anything without Christ Jesus.

Apart from Him, we can do nothing, no thing, not one thing (John 15: 5)

All of this talk about "He does His part, and you do your part."

People, we don't have a part, and when we accept that part, then we have played the best part we can play.

All of Christ. None of us.

The game has been played, the war has been won, and He lives in us.

We live in Him today, and we reign in His life.

This is not a life of winning a game.

It is a life of having won, and receiving a greater revelation of all that we have received.

The grace of God is not a baseball game which He has set up for us.

The grace of God is a certainty, and a message we send to all others, that they can stop trying to win what Jesus has already more than won for us.

That message from that preacher did not help me as much as confuse me.

If Jesus has taken care of everything, then what am I supposed to be doing?

Such confusion reigned in me, and confused me.

I understood that I am the righteousness of God in Christ, but no one had explained to me that He is committed to living in me.

Not a figment of our imagination, or a fragment of our understanding, He lives in us and through us.

He has provided all things, and has destined us to reign in life, in His life.

For the longest time, I was just confused about what the goals, the steps, the point was.

I had  no understanding of the New Covenant, and all the promises which God my Daddy (He's my Daddy!) has provided for me.

The intimacy of Himself, His life and love, were not revealed to me.

Like many Christians, I went back to self, to efforts, to the law.

No one had told me how alive He is, and for the longest time, I spent my energies trying to keep Him in my life, rather that letting his life keep me and grant me energy.

All of this is so obvious, but the pain I had dealt with for so long focused me on the pain, rather than His gain. The baseball game, in itself, can be a distraction, even if someone has told you the game is already won.

If you still think that you have a part to play, you will play yourself out trying to fulfill the part.

Life is not a game, nor a journey, or a destination.

Life is Revelation, a Person named Jesus, and His resource and blessings are never-ending.