At nearly every level, baseball is becoming more analytical. We parse it from every angle, looking at video to break down our mechanics, studying the stats chart to determine lineup construction, reading articles online to see what the “experts” have to say.
As much as I love analyzing the statistics and mechanics of the game, I’ve come to realize that at some point, the analysis has to stop and the hard work has to begin.
Proverbs 14:23–“In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”
Mere talk keeps us from failing because we never begin.
Mere talk keeps us from failing because we never try more than we can already do.
Mere talk keeps us from failing because we appear to be smarter than we really are.
Mere talk keeps us from failing because maybe, just maybe, they won’t figure out we don’t really know what we’re talking about.
So we think, as we never get any better, never try anything beyond ourselves, never reach higher, never see what we can really do.
It’s true, mere talk is a slow march to the failure we so hope to avoid.
Hard work pays off, but not as quickly as we might like.
Hard work pays off, but it’s just that–hard.
Hard work pays off, but you have to be consistent.
Hard work pays off, but sometimes you’ll hate it.
We can talk about being coaches who are transformational in the lives of our players, or we can be transformational.
We can talk about being players who stop at nothing to get better, or we can put in the extra work.
We can talk about parents who don’t let our sons’ performance dictate our self-worth, or we can support them, no matter what.
We can talk about the Scripture and what we think it means, or we can live by it.
Mere talk leads to poverty, on and off the field, even if you never lose everything.
Hard work pays off, on and off the field…always has, always will.
Lord Jesus, thank you that you didn’t just talk about loving us, but you demonstrated it on the cross. Show me how to be like you. Amen.
