People often ask what a person’s favorite season is. Of course, when they do, they generally mean summer, fall, winter, or spring?
I like to be different and hope to catch them off guard, so I typically reply with “baseball!” This is the only sport that I had any talent in. (I’m a legend in my own mind!)
Because of my love for baseball, Field of Dreams and The Rookie are two of my favorite movies.
The line, “Hey dad, wanna have a catch?” near the end of Field of Dreams, nearly brings me to tears every time I see the movie.
Then in The Rookie, there’s a scene where the main character, Jimmy Morris, is ready to give up his dream and return home to the farm. Before he does, however, he finds himself watching a kids’ game and his dream is reignited. Instead of going back home, he shows up at the minor league park the next day, saying to one of his teammates, “Brooks, you know what we get to do today? We get to play baseball!” (If you’ve never seen the movie, you can watch a clip of this scene on YouTube.)
Dreams
I know, cheesy, huh?
But put yourself in Jimmy Morris’ place for just a few moments and ask yourself how you are currently viewing your own dreams. Are you ready to give up on them and return home? Or are you actively pursuing, and even enjoying, them?
I encourage you to take it a step further. Ask yourself if just maybe yours are dreams and ambitions that have been placed upon your heart by God. Don’t let whether your dream seems attainable factor in. Not all dreams and ambitions are easy to reach. In fact, most worthwhile things aren’t.
Kingdom Work
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
God has a work for each of us to do. Kingdom work, and this work is the stuff of our dreams and ambitions.
Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us that God saved us through faith. It is simply not possible for our salvation to be brought about by anything that we can do. (If that were the case, our salvation wouldn’t truly be a gift, would it?)
But notice verse ten of that passage. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We are His workmanship, the masterpiece of all Creation. (Remember Genesis One? God created man on the sixth day and declared His creation very good!) And we were created to do good works. Not because we must, but in response to a gracious, loving, giving Father. This should be the posture of our heart, a response of gratitude.
My Current Favorite Season
Now that I am retired from full-time employment, I am privileged to serve as a lay person in several different areas of the Valley Church. Honestly, there are times (more than I’d like to admit) when I forget that it is a privilege to serve God and His people. Instead, I become focused upon myself, and I wonder why someone else isn’t helping. Then somehow, God pricks my heart and reminds me that it’s all about Him, not me. I’m brought back to the truth that I’m created for good works.
When my children and grandchildren are around and worshiping with Debbie and me, I want them to see someone who is following a dream and serving His Savior. My family members are quite intelligent perceptive. They can tell when I’m faking it. They know when I am simply going through the motions and when I’m doing things to impress others. But they can also discern when I am truly serving from a heart of love, demonstrating a servant’s heart.
I pray this for you. I pray this for myself. May all the members of our family see a true heart of love when they look toward us.
Now back to baseball. Are you aware that it is the first sport mentioned in the Bible? Look at Genesis 1:1 – “In the big inning!”
