*Today’s devotional is written by Luke Heaton, UNPACKIN’ it’s Social Media Director and Podcast Co-Host.
Prior to this season, only three players in baseball history had thrown a no-hitter in their first career start. On Saturday night, Tyler Gilbert of the Arizona Diamondbacks became the fourth.
Drafted in 2015, Gilbert began his professional career playing minor league ball for a few seasons. Following the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), he spent his summer “throwing bullpens to an old high school coach and doing electrical work alongside his father in order to make ends meet,” according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.
Gilbert then started the 2021 season playing minor league baseball for the Reno Aces before getting promoted to the major leagues on August 3rd. Leading up to his first start, Gilbert’s major league experience had only consisted of limited relief pitching.
Then comes Saturday night when the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks took on the talented San Diego Padres. Before the game, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo planned to limit Gilbert to 85 pitches, as his highest pitch count of the season in the minors was 93.
However, once the possibility of a no-hitter became apparent in the fifth inning, Lovullo talked things over with assistant coaches and the medical staff, ultimately deciding to allow for more pitches if the no-hitter continued.
Gilbert completed the no-hitter, striking out five batters, walking three, and needing a total of 102 pitches. His teammates rushed the mound to congratulate him and the cameras panned to his dad celebrating in the stands. It was nothing short of incredible!
There wasn’t much Gilbert could have done better in his historic performance on Saturday, but what’s interesting is that as great as it was, it still wasn’t without imperfections.
There hasn’t ever been a pitching performance immune to imperfections. Even the most impressive no-hitters feature flaws such as inaccurate pitches or really high pitch counts.
This logic translates to other sports too, as mistakes can still be found in what people consider to be the most impressive performances in sports history.
Michael Jordan missed shots in his best games…Tom Brady had incomplete passes during his historic performances…and the list goes on.
There’s an important lesson to be learned here for our faith. Even when we think we are at our best in life, we still fall short of the glory of God.
In writing about the righteousness of God, the Apostle Paul testifies, “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24).
Humans cannot overcome their imperfections. In sports, this is true and especially rings true in life. There’s no work or effort capable to cover and save us from our sinfulness.
We must place our faith in the risen Jesus Christ who came, died, and resurrected on our behalf. Praise God that through faith in His son Jesus, we are attributed the perfect righteousness of Christ and enter into a relationship with God.
Martin Luther sums up this truth in his treatise, On Christian Liberty: “Thus the believing soul by means of the pledge of its faith is free in Christ…free from all sins, secure against death and hell, and is endowed with the eternal righteousness, life, and salvation of Christ.”
Prayer: God, thank you for saving me through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I am a sinner who cannot save myself and am hopeless without the perfect righteousness of Christ. Help me believe what is true about Jesus and give me the boldness and desire to share that truth with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Discussion Questions for PACKS:
-
Have you placed your faith in Jesus as the only way to salvation?
- Do you pursue good works out of love for God or to try and earn God’s love?
