Joel Sherman wrote an article for the New York Post titled, “Why MLB’s Strikeout Epidemic Won’t Go Away Any Time Soon.”

In the article, Sherman states “MLB is in a 13th straight season of rising strikeouts in 2018. April ended with each team whiffing on average 8.75 times per game. Conversely, teams averaged just 8.34 hits per game. Thus, MLB just had its first month ever with more strikeouts (7,335) than hits (6,992).”

Baseball players obviously don’t want to strike out and desire to hit a home run. Even though stats show they’ll probably strike out many times while trying to hit one out of the park, they’ll continue stepping up to the plate with the intention of hitting a homer.

As followers of Jesus, each day we step into the world with the hope of living a holy life. The goal is to pray, read God’s Word, be obedient, and tell others about Jesus. Unfortunately, we can easily end up swinging and missing.

Just like baseball players find themselves regularly striking out, we aren’t going to be perfect home run hitters. But when our humanity causes us to strike out, it’s important to continue getting out there and following Jesus daily.

No batter deliberately embraces the strikeout and tries to miss the ball, so why would we deliberately pursue sin and embrace disobedience?

Life with Christ is undoubtedly better than the alternative, so we should hate to whiff and miss the ball…and make the decision to keep going after the home runs.

By not accepting the strikeout, we can learn from the miss and be better equipped to hit it out of the park the next time.

The Bible tells us that followers of Jesus live with a desire to obey (or “hit home runs”). 1 Thessalonians 4:7 (NLT) explains, “God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.”

Even though we will slip up and miss the ball, as we place our faith and hope in the death and resurrection of Jesus, we know we are given grace and forgiveness.

Hebrews 4:16 (AMP) says, “Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].”

We can be encouraged by 1 John 1:9 (NIV), “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

So today, let’s live holy lives chasing the home runs. When we do strike out, let’s rest in God’s grace and know He still loves us either way. I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for Your grace, mercy, and love. I know I’m not perfect, but please give me a desire for holiness and obedience. I don’t want to strikeout, but I know at times I will. Please purify me when I do and give me the strength to keep chasing after righteousness. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.