ARE YOU BATTING 1.000? by T. R. Post

Perhaps you have heard the phrase "batting one thousand (1.000)." This means that every time a baseball player comes to the plate, he always gets a hit. Of course nobody can sustain this very long. All batters eventually fail to get a hit by striking out, grounding out, or hitting a pop fly.

Every year the best hitters in the major leagues exceed a .300 batting average. Only a select few have finished a season over .400. The last player to do that was Ted Williams when he hit .406 for the Boston Red Sox in 1941. In modern major league history, no one has come close to hitting .500 for the season. Therefore it is practically impossible for any baseball player to sustain a season-long average of 1.000, let alone for a lifetime. This also applies to the players when they are in the field. Because they are human and prone to mistakes, sooner or later they will make errors and will never finish a season with a 1.000 fielding percentage .

Here's an important fact: No matter how hard a baseball player tries to make up for his past mistakes, he will never be at 1.000 again...EVER! Even if he makes only one mistake and then plays flawlessly the rest of his career, the best his lifetime average could ever be is .999...never 1.000.

That's the way it is with life in general. Because man is born into a fallen world, he will eventually mess up and make mistakes. No matter how hard we try to correct our past blunders, we will never reach that mark of perfection.

Just in case you think that by being a “good person” you will get into heaven, let us measure up your life to the standard found in God’s word. We will go through the Ten Commandments as found in the twentieth chapter of Exodus...

"You shall have no other gods before Me” and "You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,” - Most people think they haven’t broken these commandments because they don’t bow down to statues in their home. But anyone or anything that is honored more than God is considered an idol. To some people sports has become an idol. Many men have memorized baseball statistics but cannot quote Scriptures from the Bible. In the music world we have teen idols. There is even a rock star who calls himself Billy Idol.

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” - A large percentage of movies now that is produced in Hollywood violates this commandment. Many actors may say the name of Jesus but it’s not done in reverence. It’s no coincidence that when people swear, they often use the Lord’s name in vain. I have never heard anyone holler “Allah” or “Buddha” when they are upset about something. Satan uses people in an effort to discredit the Lord’s name but he still must bow down whenever a believer declares the name of Jesus with boldness.

“Honor your father and mother.” - When young people tell me they are “good” enough to go to heaven, one question I ask them is, “Have you ever disobeyed your parents?” Think of the times your mom asked you to clean your room and you didn’t do that. How about the time your father told you to be home by a certain time and you purposely came in late. All of us can recall times when our parents punished us for disobeying them.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” - The issue here is not about working on Sundays (after all, most pastors do) but setting aside time to worship the Lord. If God rested after six days of work, then so should we. One time I ran into someone who I had led to the Lord a few months before. When I asked him if he was going to church anywhere, he told me he was busy working two jobs. Psalm 46:10 tells us, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

"You shall not murder.” - Maybe you never killed anyone with a gun or a knife but you have likely injured someone with your words. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Think of the times you called someone a nasty name just because you didn‘t like that person. Jesus considers that murder of the heart. He said in Matthew 5:21-22, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.‘ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, "You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.”

“You shall not commit adultery.” - This commandment is not restricted to people who are married. Have you mentally undressed a member of the opposite sex while hanging out at the beach, paging through a magazine or surfing the Internet? Jesus said that if you lustfully look at someone, you have already committed adultery in your heart (Matthew 5:28).

“You shall not steal.” - Right now you might be thinking, “I’m not a crook.” Oh really? Did you ever steal money from your parents? Ever took cookies from the cookie jar when you weren‘t supposed to? How about cheating on a test at school? Or taking two newspapers from a box when you only paid for one?

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” - In other words...“Don’t lie.” It amazes me how some young people I’ve ministered to claim they have never told a lie. That in itself is a lie because Romans 3:4 says every man is a liar. Remember when you answered the telephone and told the caller that the person they were asking for wasn’t home but in reality he was. “White lies” are still lies. The next time you think about shading the truth a bit, consider Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). After they had lied to the Holy Spirit, they were struck dead!

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house...your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." - The word “covet” simply means to desire something. That in itself is not a sin. 1 Corinthians 12:31 (KJV) tells us to “covet earnestly the best gifts.” What this verse is telling us is to not be envious of what other people have. Matthew 6:33 says to “...seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Most people won’t admit to being greedy. But if you are really honest with yourself, you can remember times when you guilty of this sin.

Even if you have fulfilled all these laws perfectly except for one, that still doesn’t qualify you for entrance into heaven. James 2:10 tells us that once we have broken one law, we have broken the whole law. Heaven is a perfect place where sin cannot exist. Since none of us will ever "bat one thousand" in our lifetime, we cannot do enough spring training and get to Heaven by our own efforts.

The good news is that Someone has already gone to bat for you and cleansed you of all your past errors. That Most Valuable Player is Jesus Christ. Just before the start of His earthly ministry, Jesus faced three challenging pitches from the devil (Matthew 4:1-11)...

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

But He answered and said, "It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

After Jesus hit that first pitch right in the devil‘s face, He then faced a curve ball...

“Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: "He shall give His angels charge over you,' and,"In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone."'

Jesus said to him, "It is written again, "You shall not tempt the LORD your God."‘

Note that the devil quotes Scripture but taken out of context. After hitting that second pitch, the devil threw Jesus a slider...

“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."

Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve."'

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Jesus faced a couple more difficult pitches near the end of His earthly ministry. At the Garden of Gethsemane and when He was on the cross. Jesus could have had angels rescue Him. But instead He said, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” Thanks to Jesus dying on the cross and being resurrected nearly 2000 years ago, you have a position available on Heaven’s team. But for you to get in the game, you must invite the Lord Jesus to become the Umpire of your heart. Other “religious” figures like Buddha, Gandhi, and even the Pope have never batted 1.000! You cannot have eternal life following a person who was never perfect to begin with. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).

Romans 10:9 promises “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." If you want to make sure that you’re on Heaven’s team, then please say this prayer out loud:

"God in Heaven, I know I am a sinner and I need Your help. I confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead. Jesus, come into my heart, make yourself real to me, wash away my sins, and be my Lord and Savior. Amen."

Congratulations! You have just hit a home run by asking Jesus into your heart. The angels in Heaven are now having a victory party for you. In order for you to stay in shape spiritually, there are four things I want to encourage you to do:

1) Read the Bible for at least a few minutes a day. Start with the Gospel of John and then focus on other parts of the New Testament.
2) Pray to God daily. You don’t need to use “King James English.” Talk to God like He’s your best friend. Feel free to be yourself and express your concerns to Him. He loves you!
3) Find a good Bible-believing church to build relationships with other Christians. True Christianity is a team without “Lone Rangers.” Ask God to show you the right church to go to.
4) Tell others about Jesus Christ. When our favorite team wins the World Series, we’re excited to “spread the word.” We should have that same excitement in our relationship with God. Revelation 12:11 says we overcome Satan by the Blood of Jesus and our testimony.