By: John Grant
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“He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household.”
(Acts 16:30-32)
Spring training has begun and the beginning of the baseball season follows in a few days. Every team starts out with a fresh start. What they did last season is history. Each season is a new beginning. Each team has the goal of winning their league’s pennant and then winning four games in the World Series to make them the champion team.
A team wins a game by scoring more runs than the opposition, but there are a plethora of rules that have to be followed. I once heard of a World Series game that was the seventh of the series and whoever won it would win the championship. A batter clobbered the ball and sent it over the fence for a home run.
The batter trotted around the bases and when he tagged home plate, the hometown crown erupted in cheers, but the cheering ceased when the umpire called the runner out. How could this be? He had hit a home run, but the umpire said he was out because he had failed to tag first base.
There is a spiritual parallel here. Some day we will approach the home plate of heaven and the great umpire of the universe will call us “in� or “out.� It will not matter how hard we hit the ball of life. What will matter is whether we have tagged the proper base.
We can tag the second base of church membership and involvement. We can tag the third base of good works, but what really matters is whether we have tagged the first base of salvation .Many people go through life as good people, doing good works, involved in their church, but failing to tag the first base of salvation through giving their all to Jesus.
We all need to make sure that we have tagged that base in our lives. It is not a matter of who we are, but whose we are. Some day we will all cross the home plate of eternity and we should all be prepared to answer by what right do we have to be called “in� rather than “out,� and our answer should be that we are in because we have given our life to Christ. Have you tagged the fist base of salvation? If not, make sure you do so today.
                           (a thought on life from John Grant)
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John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney.
He is an active writer and frequent speaker. He can be reached by e-mail at: John.Grant@johngrant.net