Devotional Guide
For the week of October 26, 2003
FATHERLY LOVE ?
How guilt and power matter
To Read: Ezekiel 28-30
To Know:
" .above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the
flaming darts of the evil one."
(Eph. 6:16)
Mike Barnacle is a Boston pundit. After two straight Red Sox playoff losses
to the Athletics, Barnacle uttered a prophecy. Oakland's pitching silenced
Boston's bats and Bostonians predictably resurrected the "Curse of the
Bambino." This is the superstition that even heaven took offense at when
they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees. Barnacle, in his column, offered a more
down to earth explanation for the fact that the Sox had not won a World
Series in 85 years. A lack of pitching, and not the fabled curse, was
Barnacle's reason for the Red Sox winless streak from 1918 to today.
In baseball, pitching is the first line of defense. Big league pitchers can
swerve the cowhide-covered orb over and around home plate at speeds
approaching 100 miles an hour. Even the greatest hitters fail an average of
7 out of 10 at bats. The final game of the American League championship
series was a TV executive's dream. The Red Sox and Yankees were tied 5 to 5
in the 11th inning. Aaron Boone then lofted a Tim Wakefield knuckleball into
the left field stands. One defenseless pitch sent the Red Sox home to wait
for next year.
Guilt and doubt are a powerful duo. Guilt makes us hide and doubt makes us
quit. What is our defense? Guilt fuels two American industries. Many
counselors and most drug dealers would lose their clients overnight if guilt
and doubt were no more. Faith is the divine antidote to both guilt and
doubt. Forgiveness and the assurance that God is for us are both found in
Christ.
To Ask:
Father, strengthen my faith.
10283$-10283
.
|
