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Our battle with sin is something like the battle of the batter at the plate. We need to stay in training for the victory God promises us.
by Chris Anderson
trike three! You're out!" Hearing the
umpire's final call, the batter bowed his head, turned and slowly
walked away from the plate. The dugout was smothered in silence,
unbroken by the coach's usual encouragement that would take the
sting out of another failed attempt at bat. It wasn't the first
strikeout for the young batter, and there would be many more times
he would come away without getting to first base, let alone all
the way around to home plate.
This time was different, though. The team members were counting on the last batter of the game to pull them out of the throes of another defeat and keep them in the race for the championship. But the batter failed. The game, and the season, was over. The weight of failure was heavy.
In many ways, our battle with sin is similar to that battle of the young batter. We don't always do our best when it is time to step up to the plate, when it counts so much. Sometimes we may be outclassed by a great pitch or strong defense. Sometimes we defeat ourselves by failing to prepare and get caught off guard by a fastball that sails right by us.
Failure hurts; the reality of what we have done overwhelms. If
too many trips to the plate end in defeat, we are tempted to give
up. David knew the feeling. "For innumerable evils have surrounded
me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to
look up; they are more than the hairs
of my head; therefore my heart fails me" (Psalm 40:12).
Unlike a game that ends after nine innings, or a season that ends with the victory going to an opponent, the battle against sin lasts a lifetime. Instead of 10 or 15 good years in the game, we may spend 60, 70 or even more years in the fight against sin.
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