I have a secret to share with you – the first week of June is my favorite secular week of the year! This is from a pure personal selfish opinion because I love baseball, and I especially love Gator baseball. I especially love Gator baseball the last 15 years since we got our current coach. The reason is that we are very good in baseball, we have gone to the College World Series in Omaha Nebraska for 7 of the first 14 years under Coach O’Sullivan.
So this weekend I will get to sit in our new baseball stadium with some great baseball buddies and see if the Gators can get back to Omaha one more time. It will be so exciting and so much fun, especially if we can win and advance to the next weekend of play.
What I find interesting is when I talk sports with my friends, everyone seems to love football and basketball. However, when the subject turns to baseball, many of my friends aren’t interested. Many of them find baseball boring, and too slow for their tastes. I can’t understand how my good friends who I have so much in common with cannot love baseball the way I do. What is wrong with them? How can they be so misguided?
So it got me to thinking about life, and especially how we are all unique creatures of God, all made in His image! We all have some differences from all other people, even people we are close to, including our closest family and friends. As we expand our exposure to more people, we find people have a very wide spectrum of likes and dislikes. This leads us to get along with some people very well, we are able to tolerate others, and there are some with whom we just don’t want to be associated.
John 13:34-35 – I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”
This is God’s commandment to us, that we love one another. Also, that we don’t judge who is lovable and who is not deserving of our love, but that we love all people. Only then will the ungodly among us know that we are disciples of Jesus Christ.
Think about the way God created man and woman so differently, and somehow many of us mange to get married and stay married for many years! It may not always be easy, and it isn’t, but we learn how to get along, understand, manage, and even appreciate our differences. Now consider political leanings of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, and the continuum of thoughts and preferences within each of those 3 groups, just thinking about it can drive one crazy today! How did we all get so different? How can we all learn to get along?
Ephesians 4:31-32 – All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
How many of you today occasionally feel any bitterness or wrath or anger toward others? We need to be able to put these feelings aside and be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to everyone, not just to our special BFFs! This scripture can hit you right between the eyes, because it is very clear in its message. We are not to choose who we should be critical of, instead we are to appreciate all others whether we agree with them or not.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 – Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit, 20 do not utterly reject prophecies, 21 but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good, 22 abstain from every form of evil.
Here Paul shares with the Thessalonians a summary of a Christian’s virtues. We are to appreciate every experience we face in life, pray regularly, and give thanks to Him for all our opportunities to grow in His Word. This scripture gives all believers their priorities for successful Christian living. Rejoice …. Pray …. Give thanks!!! However, we are also clearly led to not give in to sin (verse 19), to not reject God’s Word (verse 20), and we are to examine everything presented to us and to embrace all that is “good” (verse 21) and shun all that is “evil” (verse 22).
We must always be alert that we do not give in to sin and evil, it is going to be around us in our daily walk, and that we remain true to our Godly principles that we gain through His Word, our prayers to Him, our continuous service to Him, and by attending church regularly to be among like-minded Christians.
In closing, remember the commandment He gave to His disciples as it still applies to us today –
John 15:12 – “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.