Chasing the Curve

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
                                                                                                – 2 Corinthians 11:13-14

I love baseball, and of course it’s even more special this year because the Houston Astro’s are in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  It’s amazing the amount of talent these players have and it reminds me that God has gifted each of us in a unique way.  As much as I love the game, and played as hard as I could for 30 + years, I don’t even come close to any one of the players on the field.  Can you imagine how many people there are in the world that can actually throw a baseball 100 miles per hour?  It’s definitely less than a few hundred, but more likely less than 50.  This is a gift.  This is not a learned talent or something that you can train your arm to do, you either have it or you don’t, and 99.99997% of us in this world don’t.

I was watching Clayton Kershaw the other night in game 1 of the World Series.  He is an amazing pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers and has won the Cy Young award multiple times (best pitcher), 7x All Star, MVP (2014) and a Golden Glove award winner.  He has taken Los Angeles to the playoffs for 7 of his first 10 years in professional baseball, and only this year to the World Series.  By far, he is considered one of the best pitchers ever in baseball.  Watching him though, I began thinking about how deceptive he is when he pitches.  The batter is nearly helpless to know what’s coming or where the ball will be when it actually crosses the plate, unless he is throwing heat right down the middle.

I watched him throw his curve ball on numerous Astro’s batters, and they had no clue where the ball was.  Some swung helplessly trying to find it, while most just stood there watching it drop 3-4 feet at the last second right across the plate for a strike.  This deception he uses has the batters thinking the pitch is way out of the strike zone, and then by the time they realize it’s a good pitch it’s too late to swing.  Or he throws it so it looks like an amazing strike and then when they do swing the ball has dropped into the ground, and is unhittable.

Similarly in life, we are all tempted by those things which look wonderful at first, and then when we reach for the prize, it’s actually not at all what we thought or it’s not there at all.  Satan hangs a curve out there that looks so sweet and tempting, and we know we can find success in the achievement.  Then he pulls it away at the last minute, leaving us broken and embarrassed, all alone.  Satan is the great deceiver in this world.  He is evil, often times disguised as goodness.  Once we commit, once we are hooked, only then do we really see it for who and what he really is. 

We serve a God that is truthful, honest, and just in all of His actions.  He will not deceive nor lead you down the wrong path.  When you see His works in your life, you know it is out of love for you, and not love for Himself.  This is the right path to pursue, so quit chasing the curve, only to be abandoned.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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