Babe Ruth has been called the “greatest figure in major league baseball.” He is a hero to many, including a 9-year-old boy named Chris. He admired Babe so much that he decided to dress up like him as part of his school project.
Imagine the look on Chris’ face when his great-grandmother, Viola Bevilacque, told the little slugger that she owned a baseball that was signed by his hero.
The story goes that the baseball had been in Mrs. Bevilacque’s attic for nearly fifty years. Her late husband had received the ball as a gift. It was just a common baseball, no different from any other baseball… until that April day in 1923 when the ball met the bat of Babe Ruth. Suddenly everything changed. The ball went from being just an ordinary baseball to becoming the first home run hit in Yankee stadium. Amazing!
It was a July night in 1980. My life was a wreck, and I was desperate. That night in my bedroom I pleaded with God to save my soul. And in an instant, it happened - my heart met the mercy of Jesus. Suddenly everything changed. I went from being a common person among billions to being “family” to the One who created the heavens. Remarkably, I became a valued child of God that night. That’s a level of “amazing” that can’t be matched!
If you’re a Christian, then you know my story well. You too remember a time when your heart met the mercy of Jesus Christ, and you were gloriously saved. It changed the path of your life forever.
I encourage you to pause to reflect on the wonder of God welcoming you into His family. You were lost and cold-hearted toward God, yet He found you and invited you inside – into the warmth of His love.
It’s not a story we should keep to ourselves. We’re all tempted to hide this story away in an “attic” somewhere… or “under a basket.”
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).
What an honor and a responsibility it is to share this extraordinary story, this life-changing gospel message, with others – family, friends, and the young, unchurched couple next door. May God help us.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
