3 Lessons from the MLB All Star Game

Last night, I watched, in amazement, the Major League All Star Game.  I learned some valuable lessons by watching Mariano Rivera enter into his office, the pitcher’s mound, in the 8th inning.  In fact, I rewound it and watched it a second time with my son.  Mariano Rivera is retiring from the game after 19 years in the major leagues.  I remember when he started playing.  He came into the New York Yankees organization as a set up man for their then closer, John Wetteland.  Now, when he enters a game, the song “Enter Sandman” blares from the stadium speakers as his job is to put the other team’s batters to sleep by getting them out and ending the game.  He has over 600 saves credited to his account in the major leagues.  Awesome!

Now I am not a New York Yankees fan by any means or stretch of the imagination.  I am a Boston Red Sox fan and of course, Texas Rangers fan.  But what I witnessed last night was a champion entering his last Major League All Star Game ever.  He will be a Hall of Fame inductee without question.  However, what I was able to teach my son last night through the game of baseball was even greater than his last game.  You see, Mariano Rivera is one of the most respected players in the major leagues.  In fact, the person that he is caused his peers to do and exemplify some amazing character traits that each of them have at a time when the world wants each of them to scream, “Hey, look at me!”  They screamed, “Hey!  Look at Him!”

You see, both the American League team and the National League team stayed in the dugout and it was just Mariano Rivera and the catcher out there to warm up.  Not even the position players took the field.  Those players taught a me some valuable lessons and gave me opportunity to teach my son.

3 Lessons that I Learned from the All Star Game.

1. Respect those Who have gone before you.
2. Honor those who deserve honor.
3. Humility is best worn when Pride is desired.

Those players paid tribute to a man who has gone before them and set a benchmark in the game.  They honored him by staying in the dugout to give him the big stage.  And in a day and age where humility is left for those who are usually never seen, they set aside their pride and wore the uniform of humility to show honor and respect.

Who has gone before you that is worthy of honor and respect?

What is stopping you from showing them?

How can you set aside your pride and wear the uniform of humility to show that person or persons respect and honor?

It is only fitting that I close this writing, in honor of Mariano Rivera by saying,

GO SOX!

He would appreciate it!

Spiritual Trading Cards

It is a good thing to have things in common with your kids.  When I was a kid, I used to collect baseball cards. I would save up my money and ride my bike down to the corner store and buy as many packs as possible.  I will never forget the anticipation of paying for the cards and rushing outside and opening those packs, grabbing the concrete piece of bubble gum that was inside each pack and shoving it in my mouth to begin the cavity process.  4 out of 5 kids recommended Donruss bubble gum, but I was a Topps man!  I would then smell the cards…yes, I was a weird kid.  I loved the smell of the cards with the scent of the bubble gum.  I remember looking through the cards in search of my heroes.  It would only be a few days and I would have them ordered, alphabetized and put in my shoebox for proper storage.  I would then memorize the stats on the back of each card and do the math to check to make sure that Topps didn’t make any mistakes figuring out each player’s stats.  I was a stat junkie!

My son, Cole, has started collecting cards.  In fact, I don’t remember myself being this excited about cards.  However, he is searching Ebay and looking up values and if we ever get separated at the store, I can always go to the baseball card section to find him.  He has them all separated by team and in a binder with protective pages. He takes his cards and trades them with our neighbor’s kids and rushes home to ask me if I have ever heard of such and such a player.

Cole loves the history of the older cards and the players that are depicted on them.  He has a respect for the game and realizes that there are those who played baseball long before he was even born.  He asks why Jackie Robinson’s number is retired at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX, because he knows he never played for the Rangers. I love it!  His passion for those cards and collecting them take me back to a place when I loved being a kid.  The only thing I notice about today’s cards are that they don’t smell like bubblegum…what a tragedy!

I was reading in Romans and cam across a series of Scripture that reminded me of trading cards.  The passage is found in Romans 1:21-22 & 25.  This is what Paul wrote to the Romans…

21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.22Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 

 

25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

When Paul was addressing the Romans, he spoke to them like the people had knowledge of God.  However, just knowing  about God doesn’t imply worship or facilitate the implementation of worship.  People have a will, that means they have a choice to worship God or not.  They would not even return thanks to God, much less worship Him.  They began to concoct their own interpretations of who God is and what He was like.  This takes place today.  Some may refer to God as a woman or say that God is in everything or God is who you want Him to be.  Some may even believe that all gods, Allah, Buddha, Hare Krishna, the various Hindu gods are all the same.  This is called polytheism.  As a result of these beliefs, people’s minds can become confused and darkened to the light of the Truth.  In their wisdom that they feel the gain from this wide spectrum of religions/gods, they instead become fools.  A fool is one who says in his heart that there is no god.

As a result of these actions, people traded the truth about God for a lie.  The Truth was in the form of Jesus Christ and the lie believed is the lie that there are many ways to heaven so worship whatever you think to be god.  Instead of worshipping the Creator, they worshipped creation.

The first commandment that God wrote on the tablets for Moses on Mt. Sinai was,

“Thou shall have no other gods before me.”

This is the most important commandment.  You must always put God first.  Many times you will be confronted with ‘possibilities’ that God is found in all and in everything.  However, don’t buy in to the lie that there are many ways to heaven.  There is one way, that is, through Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10).  Make sure that idolatry doesn’t creep in and focus is diverted to the attention of what man has created over the Creator himself.  Remember, confusion doesn’t come from God.  Worship God for who He is…first and foremost…the Creator.

What is that “thing” you are trading for your reverence to God?

How can one find comfort in the realization that there is ONE way to heaven, that is, through Jesus Christ?

What are the things, idols, that you are putting in front of God that competes for His rightful place in your life?