Wonderboy!

2 Corinthians 10:1-6

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%2010%3A1-6&version=NIV;NLT

 

In the 1984 movie The Natural, Robert Redford played the role of a baseball Phenom, Roy Hobbs, who had a supernatural bat called Wonderboy. As a young boy, Hobbs had made his bat from a tree that had been hit by lightning. He engraved both the name of the bat and a lightning bolt onto the barrel of the bat, memorializing its origin.

 

Years later, as a middle aged rookie in major league baseball, Wonderboy provided Roy Hobbs a spectacular comeback as he almost single handedly brought the fictitious New York Knights from last place to the World Series.

 

Hobbs most memorable home run was when he hit the cover completely off the baseball leaving the fielders and umpires a ball of unraveled string. Wonderboy was indeed a bat with mystical powers.

 

In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul was defending himself against false teachers who were spreading lies about his authority as an apostle. His defense lead to these verses.

 

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.        NIV

 

Paul was invoking the same divine power that raised Jesus from the dead. It is this divine power that changed his life and carried him through a life dedicated to serving Christ. A life that was full of controversy, conflict, hardship and persecution. Yet, through it all, he remained faithful to Christ.

 

Peter recognized this same divine power.

 

³ By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3 NLT

 

Do you ever wish that something supernatural would happen in your life; that God’s divine power would come down like a lightning bolt and do something? We don’t have to depend on a fictitious, mystical bat because something supernatural has already happened. However, we do need to pick up the bat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The $33 Million Man

Proverbs 3:5-10

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%203%3A5-10&version=NLT;MSG

 

 

In my office at work there is a picture of the 1968 Detroit Tigers who won the World Series that year.

 

:

Players on that team included:

Ø  Denny McLain, the last Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher to win 30 games in a season.

Ø  Mickey Lolich who won 3 of the 4 World Series games for the Tigers.

Ø  Willie Horton, a power hitter who was the home town hero.

Ø  Gates Brown, the best pinch hitter in the game.

Ø  Future Hall of Famers - Eddie Mathews and Al Kaline.

 

Despite each one of these players being stars, none of them, nor any of their teammates, made as much as $100,000 that year.

 

In 2017, according to the USA Today, the average annual salary for a MLB player is

$4.47 million. At the top of the list is Clayton Kershaw, star pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will make $33 million this year in salary alone.

 

Very few people have the level of wealth that Clayton Kershaw has, or for that matter, what the average MLB player makes. But that’s not the point. For us as believers and followers of Christ, the passage in Proverbs gives us direction on how to use our gifts of time, talent and treasure, no matter how much we have or what they are.

 

⁵ Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
⁶ Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.      MSG

⁹ Honor the Lord with your wealth
    and with the best part of everything you produce.  NLT

 

The wisdom of Proverbs is that no matter what amount of “wealth” you have, you are to use it for God’s purposes. You are to trust, listen and honor the Lord with all that you have, all that you do and all that you are.

 

 

 

 

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