Last week, the Toronto Blue Jays clinched Major League Baseball’s American League East Division title for the first time in 22 years. There was, as you might imagine, much rejoicing at this, from both players and fans alike.
But did you notice what happened immediately after the game they won that clinched the title? They lost the next couple of games – games that, arguably, they should have been able to win (especially the first one). Granted, that first one saw a number of second-string players getting field time, but one might have thought they’d play better than they did.
It was as if the Blue Jays had gained a title, and then let their guard down, forgetting what was at stake (which, in this case, was home field advantage). There are more series yet to play!
Sometimes, we can be like that in the life of faith, can’t we? We come to faith in Christ, with all the excitement that comes with that, and maybe we serve for a season, but then we decide it’s time for someone else to take over. We let our guard down.
Yet there’s a whole world to be won.
Trusting Jesus for our eternal salvation is important, but it’s not the end of the road. We don’t believe and then start spraying the proverbial champagne. No – when we come to faith, that’s when the real work of being followers of Jesus begins. Jesus told us to pray that God’s Kingdom would come on earth, just as it is in heaven. And for that to happen, Christ-followers have to work.
So celebrate your faith, but don’t rest on your laurels. There’s a whole world to be won!
“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields” (Matthew 9.37b-38, NLT).
