“The Joy of Salvation”
By Rev. Everett R. Kimble, Sr.
“ 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 10:9-11).
One of the greatest feelings you will ever have in baseball or softball is when you hit a home run. The other day, I watched a fast-pitch women’s softball game, and one of the batters came up and hit a booming home run. I mean, she hit the ball way over the fence. Her teammates ran out of the dugout to meet her for the celebration at home plate, the fans shouted and cheered, and the announcers and even I was amazed at how hard she had hit the ball. As I watched her round the bases, I could see the pride and joy on her face. As she rounded third base and headed for home, her teammates had already gathered around and were jumping with anticipation. When she finally got there, the whole stadium erupted as they celebrated and headed back to the dugout with a flurry of pats on the back and congratulations.
Just then, the pitcher from the opposing team runs to home plate, steps on the base, and the umpire calls the homerun slugger out because in the midst of all the excitement she forgot to touch home plate. The rule is: Even though a homerun grants you a free trip around the infield and a run, you still must touch all of the bases, or instead of being something great, that homerun becomes just another out. As I watched, I could see the looks of despair and anger on all the faces as the camera panned the crowd and the team.
Salvation through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a spiritual home run. It is the greatest thing you can ever experience in your life, but just like in softball, you must touch all the bases to enjoy its full benefit and miss being eternally called out. Without skipping a base, you must first accept the truth that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, and He is Jehovah, Lord of life and glory. Next, you must accept that Jesus was crucified and buried, God has raised Him from the dead, and all the work needed for your salvation has been completed, and you are now free from the penalty of sin.
But unlike baseball, or softball which usually takes a lot of time to work your way to the point of being able to hit a booming home run, you can hit that spiritual homerun with Jesus right here this morning. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 10:9-11 KJV)
The joy of an abundant life in Jesus is waiting for anyone ready and willing to touch all the bases. Have a blessed and redeeming Friday.
