Consider Where Our Minds Are Set

Last Wednesday night was a late night for many living in and around Houston. Why? Because the Astros were in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the 56th season of Major League Baseball in Houston, there’s no need for the Astros or their fans to shrug their shoulders, drop their heads and mutter, “Wait till next year.”

With the final out of the game, my wife and I jumped for joy over the victory. Being baseball fans, we have done the same in 1988 as the Dodgers beat the Oakland A’s on a Kirk Gibson home run, and in 1990 as the Cincinnati Reds topped the Oakland A’s.

We’ve also endured the crushing loss of the Texas Rangers (our favorite baseball team) to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2011 World Series. They had three chances to win it all and failed. It was agonizing for us. It is still a bad memory.

In the exhilaration of victory and the agony of defeat, what does it all mean in the greater scheme of things? In actuality, not much.

There will be another baseball season in 2018 and another World Series. Hopefully there will also be an Astros victory, but life, with all of its good and evil continues on.

For example, a large number of victims of the Hurricane Harvey flooding continue to struggle with getting their lives back in order. As stated in the previous paragraph, good and evil continue on relentlessly.

Baseball is entertainment and while it offers us the joy of a victory at times, we still have to get up, go to work, and deal with everyday life. Most importantly, as Christians, we must never allow entertainment or temporary things to divert us from the ultimate purpose for which we have been given life by our Creator.

Is watching a baseball game wrong in God’s sight? Watching the World Series is not a bad thing as long as we keep our priorities straight. Paul tells us what is important in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

The World Series is something that we can see in this visible world and it is temporary. We must keep this in mind as we go through life as Christians.

We realize that there are things that are of far greater value than a ball game. In fact, the things that really matter are eternal.

While the 2017 World Series clash between Houston and LA was quite the exciting drama, it is still something temporary and of far less value than eternity.

Where must we focus? “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2)

As we observe the Sabbath, we might consider where our minds are set.

Have a pleasant Sabbath,

Gary Smith