Bob and the Baseball Team - 03/02/02 08:35 AM
I remember getting the idea when mulling over "by beholding you become changed..." and then added 'by beholding Jesus, you become more like him'... I liked where that was going - and so....This is the story of a young boy named Bob.
Bob was invited to join a baseball team - a very GOOD baseball team - one that would win the Championships every year! People said it was because they had the best coach.
Well, Bob never played much baseball before, but he liked the idea of being a Big Winner! So he talked to the coach and asked if he could join the team. "Sure, Bob!" he said, "my name is Jay, and so long as you stay on my team and follow my instructions as well as you can, I promise you'll be a winner!"
Bob never felt so good before... until his first time up at bat. That's when Bob realized he couldn't hit the baseball very well at all. (get animated- pretend you're at bat!) Strike one! Strike two! Strike three- you're out!
Maybe he could catch the ball instead! He got on his glove and went out into the field. When someone hit the ball it came right to him! Bob tried to catch the ball but it landed in front of him and rolled between his legs! He had to run after the ball (run, run, run, "Got it!") and throw it to the person at Home Base! When he threw the ball, it didn't go very far and it didn't go in the direction it was supposed to go...
At the end of the game, Bob was feeling pretty sad. He went up to the Coach and said, "Um... (kicking feet in the dirt) Coach... I'm not really very good at playing baseball... are you sure you want me on your team?"
Jay just smiled a great big smile and said, "Just like I told you before, so long as you stay on my team and listen to my instructions, I *PROMISE* you'll be a winner! Please stay on the team."
Well, time went by and Bob listened to Coach Jay as best as he could. He started to hit the ball once in a while, he could throw better, and once or twice he even caught the ball before it ever even touched the ground!
At the end of the year, the team won the big Championship game and the Coach was handing out little trophies for everybody on the team!
Bob was last in line and looked at everyone in front of him... He certainly didn't hit the ball as well as most of his team, and he wasn't as good at throwing or catching either...
When it was his turn in line, Bob said to the Coach, "Gee... I'm not as good as everyone else on the team. Are you sure I deserve one of those trophies?"
Coach Jay said with a big smile, "It's not how well you played that made you a Winner, Bob. It was just being part of my team."
And that's the way it is with Jesus. He wants us to follow Him on His team too! And we'll all be big winners if we just love Him and try our best to do the things He asks us to do.
Can you all do that?
God bless!