God's Coaching #60

God's Coaching #60

For baseball fans, few days are as sweet as March 1. It marks the mandatory date for all Major League Baseball players to report to spring training. Pitchers and catchers typically arrive in the second week of February, but it isn’t until March when spring training gets fully under way in Arizona and Florida. As palm trees sway in the breeze, spring training provides a chance for all 30 major league teams to start fresh.

It’s a time of anticipation and renewal. Whether a team’s record was 100–62 or 62–100 the previous season, there are great possibilities with a 0–0 record. In March, pitchers seem to have some extra zip on their fastballs and bite on their curveballs. Young players who are trying to make the big leagues play with boundless zeal. Even veterans seem to have a little more bounce in their step. Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby once said, “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

What’s the Score?

Fresh starts are a good thing. But it’s not just baseball teams that need them. We all do. According to the Bible, we were all born with a terrible sin problem that separates us from a holy God. In fact, before we put our faith in Christ, Ephesians 2:1 describes us as “dead because of [our] disobedience and [our] many sins.” Being dead? Whoa! Talk about needing a fresh start!

That’s exactly what God gives us when we put our faith in Jesus and believe that his death paid the penalty for our sins. Ephesians 2 continues by saying that, through Christ, we can be raised “from the dead” and seated “with him in the heavenly realms” (verse 6). No matter how many times you’ve sinned or how bad your sins are, God wants to give you a fresh start through faith in his Son. Spring training has nothing on that fresh start!

On the Ball

List as many sins as you can think of on a chalkboard or a dry-erase board. When finished, wipe the board clean to signify the fresh start God gives us through Christ.

Coach’s Comment

He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6