Learning from Baseball: Being Put on the IL

Today’s Scripture Passage:

James 5:13-20

Key Verse:

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16 (NLT)

Major League Baseball teams put players who are unable to play on what’s called the Injured List (IL), and a player can be put on the IL for anything from sickness to severe injury. Depending on their malady, they can be on the IL anywhere from day-to-day to the remainder of the season. Some are simple injuries, others require time and therapy, some need surgeries. All require recovery time. The longer the recovery time, the more likely the player will spend time in the minor league before coming back up to the majors.

All of this is for the benefit of the player and the team. Sick or injured players are not able to properly fulfill the requirements of their position. The earlier an injury is recognized, the sooner his treatment begins, and the quicker he is back in the game. Hiding the injury doesn’t help the player or the team.

Jesus-followers need to be healthy too. Healthy bodies are important, but even more important are healthy hearts and minds. Sin gives birth to death, so we cannot allow ourselves to ignore or excuse our sin. We must be spiritually healthy in all our ways and in all our relationships.

The longer we ignore a sin in our lives, the stronger its hold on us becomes, and the deeper it seeps into our hearts. Left unattended, it infects our minds and our conscience is no longer pricked. We make excuses and dismiss our sin as inconsequential and unimportant. We become hardened to the relationship between our sin and the chaos in our lives.

Sin creates separation between us and others. The first sin created separation between Adam and Eve and not just between them and God. Yes! God’s grace covered the separation and shame of their sin, but it didn’t backup time and undo their sin or its consequences.

So how does the healing happen?

First…

We agree with God about our sin. We admit our sin is sin, and we go to Him for help.

This is repenting; turning away from our sin and to the LORD. His word tells us He is faithful and will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness when we confess our sins to Him.

FYI: God knows our hearts! He knows when we’re sorry for our sin. He also knows when we just want Him to take away the consequences of our sins.

Second…

We confess our sin struggle to a mature and faithful Jesus-follower.

This is NOT for the purpose of getting someone else to pray for us because Jesus won’t listen to us. Nor is it about getting someone else to MAKE us follow Jesus.

This is about asking someone to stand with us, encourage us to remain steadfast in following Jesus, and pray for us as we heal. This must be someone who will speak the truth in love to us during the removal and recovery process.

Third…

We must regularly evaluate our choices in the light of God’s word.

We will not recognize sin unless we know truth. God’s word is truth. Reading our Bible is essential. It transforms our minds and exposes the infection of sin. Reading our Bible is like a cancer patient getting a PET scan.

Once our sin is exposed, we go back to the beginning of the healing process and repeat.

This Week…

1 Read your Bible every day. Allow it to transform your mind with truth.

2 Talk to Jesus about what you read. Don’t be shy about your questions or fears or even the places you’re skeptical. He knows what you’re thinking, so be honest with yourself and with Him about it.

3 Pray for yourself daily. A good starting prayer is Ephesians 3:14-19.

Digging Deeper:

Romans 12:2, Galatians 5:22-23, Galatians 6:1, James 1:14-15, 1 John 1:9 & 1 John 2:16

If you have not yet met Jesus, you can meet Him today. He created you. He loves you. He wants you to be a part of His family. I encourage you to step into the life He created you to live. You will still have the troubles of this world, but you will no longer be facing them alone. I’m praying for you! https://peacewithgod.net/mobile/?utm_source=Microsoft&utm_medium=CPC&utm_term=HowToGoToHeaven&utm_campaign=USPWGMobileSearchMic

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.