Life (and Christianity) is much like the game of baseball. I read a quote from Rick Dempsey about baseball that both resonated with and encouraged me. Hopefully, it will encourage you as well. Regarding being effective at the game of baseball, Dempsey said, “You’ve got to take it one game at a time, one hitter at a time. You’ve got to go on doing the things you’ve talked about and agreed upon beforehand. You can’t get three outs at a time or five runs at a time. (Reread that last sentence! Even though you can turn a double or a triple play, the outs only come one at a time! And the maximum number of runs you can score at one time is four.) You’ve got to concentrate on each play, each hitter, and each pitch. All this makes the game much slower and much clearer. It breaks it down to its smallest part. If you take the game like that – one pitch, one hitter, one inning at a time, and then one game at a time – the next thing you know, you look up and you’ve won.”
Dempsey was talking about baseball, but he outlined the steps for being effective at anything in life. This includes being effective as a person, Christian, parent, child, friend, employee, employer, church member, or any endeavor in life. We must learn to handle life one opportunity at a time.
There is a scene from the movie, City Slickers, where Billy Crystal’s character, Mitch Robbins, and Curly, the rough old cowboy/trail boss played by Jack Palance, are riding side by side on horseback. Mitch asks Curly the secret to life. Curly stops his horse, looks at him, holds up a finger and says, “One.” Confused, Mitch asks him what he meant by, “One.” Curly replied, “You have to find the one thing in life that makes you happy and do that.” Mitch asked, “Well what is my one thing?” Curly replied, “You have to find that out for yourself!” I am convinced that in each of our lives there is at least one thing we can focus and concentrate on that will make us both happier and better!
Below are some excerpts from an e-mail I received from Brad Lomenick that gives ten areas a person can focus on in life that will make them better at anything – including their walk with Jesus! I encourage you to pick one and focus on it until you master it. Then pick another!
1. Be Responsible: Be on time. Get things done. Finish. It makes you feel good to finish a project. Be honest, how many of you are thinking right now about a project you started and haven’t finished? 2. Be a Learner: Read. Listen. Be curious. I have made a commitment to be a life-long learner. How about you? 3. Be a Hustler: Work hard. Do whatever the task at hand requires. I heard it said once, “Good things come to those who wait – but only the things left behind by those who hustle!” 4. Be a Carrier of the Organizational Vision: Be a role model of living out the values of your company, church, staff, and Christianity. 5. Be Passionate: Be positive. Live with joy. Identify what you are passionate about and do that. Don’t do what you aren’t passionate about doing! 6. Be Self-aware and Self-regulating: Know who you are. Lead yourself. You cannot lead others if you cannot lead yourself. 7. Be Humble: It’s not about you. God’s world was running just fine before you got here and it’ll be running just fine when you’re dead and gone! 8. Be Someone Who “Leans in”: Often, the runner who wins the photo finish is the one who leaned in the most at the start finish line! Be first. 9. Be Disciplined: Stick with it. On many occasions the victory doesn’t go to the fastest, but to the person who just stuck with it! 10. Be a Courageous Risk Taker: Step out of your comfort zone and take a risk!
Remember, you cannot make more than one out at a time or score more than four runs at once. And life is about identifying your one thing and going for it with all you’ve got. “… If you take the game (life) like that – one pitch, one hitter, one inning at a time, and then one game (problem) at a time – the next thing you know, you look up and you’ve won.”
Brother Aaron
To schedule Brother Aaron to preach a Sunday service at your church, a revival meeting, or a special event, you may contact him at: 1-800-511-9536, 706-302.9162, or e-mail: freshfire@mindspring.com
