by Elder Johnny Kim
The start of the month of April signals the start of the Major League Baseball season and the start of fans flocking to stadiums everywhere to enjoy America’s favorite pastime. Following the off-season hiatus, excited fans are eager to start rooting for their home teams and to start cheering on their favorite players. However, save for the most committed fans, some of that excitement will inevitably wane as the season progresses. At 162 regular season games, the baseball season is the longest out of all other major professional sports in terms of the number of games (82 games for the NBA and NHL, 34 games for the MLS, and 16 games for the NFL) so understandably, only the most die-hard baseball fans will follow each and every game.
Even the professional baseball players themselves realize that they are in for a long season and it’s always interesting to note how that affects their attitudes towards the game. When a sports writer interviews any given player or manager whose team might be off to a horrible start, the response is almost always along the lines of, “There’s still plenty of season left to turn things around!” Likewise, a player who might be going through a terrible hitting slump early on might respond, “Don’t worry, I have many more at bats ahead to get back in the groove.” A long season coupled with the certainty of knowing exactly when it ends allows for the luxury of such attitudes, attitudes that certainly don’t apply off the playing field out in the real world.
Yet even as Christians, we can find ourselves harboring this same type of attitude about life in general. I would even say that the younger we are, the stronger those sentiments might be. It is easy for us to think that we are still in the early stages of the season of our lives with plenty of life left to live. If we find ourselves lazy with our spiritual disciplines, we might think to ourselves, “I’m okay, I have plenty of time to get serious about Christianity!” Likewise, given an opportunity to share the gospel with an unbeliever, we might be inclined to put it off for a more convenient time in the future. Or if we find ourselves falling for the temptations of sin over and over again, we might even rest in the thought that we have more than enough time to turn our lives around.
However, God makes it clear to us through His Word that Christians are to live a life of urgency and intentionality. James 4:14 reminds us of the brevity of our lives and that tomorrow is never a guarantee. Far from being just scare tactic, the Word here is presenting us with yet another precious truth. One doesn’t have to look any further than the front page of the newspaper for proof that indeed our season here on earth is short and can come to an end at any time. Proverbs 27:1 advises us against presuming upon the Lord to provide us with more days of life ahead. In the end, God desires for us to live our lives with urgency; urgent to know Him and everything in His Word, urgent to conform our lives to Christ’s, urgent to share Christ with people who are physically and spiritually dying all around us.
Do you live your life with a sense of urgency? Are you intentional in how you spend your days, and even hours, living for Christ? Are you doing your UTMOST to bring God the most glory TODAY? Because unlike in baseball, the time for a “late-season comeback” in life may never come at all.