Greg had been playing baseball from the time he was six years old. He played the game right through grade school, high school and was the catcher on a college team.
Although he no longer plays baseball regularly he is still very interested in it. So when the opportunity came along to help a boys’ team of eight, nine and ten year olds, he was glad to assist them.
During batting practice one day, Greg stepped in to play catcher while Todd, their regular catcher, stepped up to the batter’s box for a few swings. The catcher’s face mask was too small for Greg. He thought to himself, “I don’t need one. This is just little league baseball!”
There are many people around us who are not properly protected. They go through each day without concern about the danger they face. You may be asking, “What danger?” It is the danger that each person is in who has not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their own Saviour. When the Lord Jesus comes back (as He has promised He will), or if a person dies without having his sins washed away in the blood of the Lord Jesus (Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5)), he will face the punishment for his sins. But God has made protection from that punishment available right now to anyone who will accept it—the Lord Jesus Christ went to Calvary’s cross and took the punishment for the sins of any who will believe in Him and accept Him as their Saviour.
Having accepted Christ as Saviour, a Christian has complete protection. Nothing can take away the eternal salvation that only Christ can give. It is free for all who will simply accept it. Won’t you put on God’s “helmet of salvation” (Eph. 6:1717And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Ephesians 6:17)) which will give you all the protection you need?
Greg crouched low behind the batter in the catcher’s position, ready to catch the pitch if Todd missed it. The first pitch sailed in right over the plate and Todd gave a mighty swing... but only ticked it. The ticked ball flew straight back at Greg’s face and struck him directly in his left eye, breaking his contact lens.
In much pain Greg was driven straight to the hospital emergency room. There a doctor carefully removed broken pieces of plastic from Greg’s battered eye. For a week Greg wore a patch over his eye to keep it closed.
When the doctor reexamined his eye he had more bad news. He found that the blow to Greg’s eye had caused other damage. Greg had to go back to the hospital for an operation the next morning. Then he had to stay in the hospital for a week with both eyes bandaged. He was not allowed to get out of bed or even move his head around, because any little bump would prevent his eye from healing.
For several weeks after he got out of the hospital, Greg had to go to the doctor for a series of painful eye treatments. A few months later the doctor discovered that Greg had developed an eye disease that may cause him to go blind. He now has to put medicine in his eyes every day for the rest of his life.
Do you think Greg learned a lesson from this experience? He certainly did, but it was too late to prevent the accident. He can tell someone else never to be a catcher, even in little league, without wearing the right protection. But he cannot undo the damage to his own eye.
No one has ever come back from the dead to warn us of what hell is like. In the Bible the Lord Jesus tells a story about one who “in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments.” Luke 16:2323And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (Luke 16:23). He was told that there would be no end to the torments and no escape from hell. How awful! Yet, this is what each one faces who refuses the protection offered in love by the Lord Jesus.
Greg can tell you the value of a catcher’s mask. Yet there is nothing as valuable as your soul. It lives on and on, forever, even after your body dies. This is how the Lord Jesus explains how valuable your soul is: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36,3736For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36‑37).
Don’t refuse God’s protection for your soul. His great love to you has provided all that you need to be saved. Won’t you accept His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as your Saviour right now?
ML-07/29/1984