Well, What Do You Know and How Do You Do!

A major league batter hits a hard ground ball down the third base line. The third baseman, in desperation to prevent an extra base hit, sticks out his glove and, to his amazement, the ball comes to rest in it. Quickly, he stands up and throws the runner out at first. The crowd leaps to their feet and applauds his great effort.

I read that one infielder (I believe it was Don Hoak) referred to such a play as the "well, what do you know and how do you do" play. The ball is a certain hit and the third baseman is the most surprised person on the diamond to find that ball stuck in his glove ("well, what do you know"). Realizing he has an opportunity to change the outcome of the play from a hit to an out ("and how do you do"), he throws the ball to first. What was a sure thing only moments earlier (a hit) has now been radically changed (an out).

Ephesians 2 has a similar "well, what do you know and how do you do" play. Paul begins the chapter reminding his readers (and us) who we are. He writes:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

What a horrific picture of who we really are! Spiritually dead creatures, forever following the world, the Devil, and our flesh, doing what WE wanted to do, doing what WE thought was right. In a nutshell, we are children of wrath, we are guilty before our Almighty Creator, doomed for eternal damnation. Our path is clear. Instead of a ball shooting its way into left field, we are souls shooting our way into Hell. That's our certain destination.

Then comes God's "well, what do you know and how do you do" play. Oh, He knows what He's doing. He knows the end from the beginning. However, for those of us whose destiny is leading us to eternal destruction, God comes out of nowhere to make a radical, life-changing play.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

That simple conjunction "but" is the surprising play of the infielder. No one expected it. Nothing and no one, not even ourselves, could prevent us from entering Hell. But God could. God, not with a glove but with His mercy and His grace, reached out in Jesus Christ and changed our course. Instead of rolling into Hell, He saved us and raised us up and seated us with Christ! Our change of course in life is His doing, not ours. What was a sure eternal home in Hell has been exchanged for a sure eternal home in Heaven.

Has God made such a play in your life? Have you repented of your sin and trusted Jesus for the keeping of your soul? Has the Spirit regenerated your soul, restoring its spiritual life? God and God alone can prevent you from rolling into the Devil's outfield. Trust Him.

For those of us who are trusting Christ, just like the crowd stands and applauds the third baseman for such a play, let us stand and applaud our Heavenly Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for showing us the "immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness".