Wordy Wednesday

I have fought the good fight, 

I have finished the race, 

I have kept the faith. 

Finally, there is laid up for me

the crown of righteousness, 

which the Lord, the righteous Judge, 

will give to me on that Day, 

and not to me only but also to 

all who have loved His appearing.  

~ 2 Timothy 4:7-9

I saw this quote and thought I'd do a little twist to my typical Wordy Wednesday post. While there's nothing religious about this quote, there is a lot of spiritual life application to be gleaned. It did make me think of several Bible verses.

Life does have a tendency to throw us curve balls. Anyone who has played or followed baseball knows that a good hitter will be patient and wait for the right pitch to come. That patience comes from maturity and carefully observing the pitcher as he throws to other batters. A good batter will also foul off the pitches in order to stay in that batter's box as long as he can. So the batter patiently endures, battling to stay in that batter's box as long as he can. When that right pitch does finally come along, an experienced batter will take his swing and be ready to run. 

As believers, we are often placed in that position of waiting patiently all the while battling those knuckle balls, the curve balls, and the 95 mile-per-hour hanging sliders that come our way. We battle away against things the enemy throws at us. We need to be dilligent to study the "pitcher" and to patiently endure until that "perfect pitch" comes along. When it does, we need to be ready to take that swing and run. We need to keep watch for those opportunities that God provides in our lives. If we have our eyes closed, we'll miss the pitch. And in the end we will find that crown of righteousness.

Let's fight that good fight of faith!