Articles
You're Not Out Unless You Quit Swinging
When I play baseball, I can try hard to hit the ball with the bat, but there is no guarantee, and not even a great likelihood, that I’ll make contact. And in baseball, that matters, because no matter how earnestly I swing, after three strikes, I’m out.
God, however, suffers with us much longer than any umpire. As his followers, no matter how many times we fall into sin, if we’ll get back up, repent, and resolve again to obey God, He’ll keep giving us another turn at bat (1Jo 1:7).
Jeremiah describes our incredibly patient God this way. “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22,23) If we keep swinging, God won’t call us “out”. He won’t quit loving us. His well of mercy won’t run dry. No matter what we do, Jesus’ blood keeps washing our slate clean. No one is more faithful than He is.
So, as you start the new year, don’t dwell on the past. If God has let it go, you should let it go too. Have the attitude of Paul, a former persecutor of Christians who let the past go and moved on to better things. “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14) -Paul
