CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

A SIGHT WORTH SEEING!

5/2/2023

 
How many of you have ever seen either the bumper sticker or the car tag that says, “LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY GRANDCHILDREN”?  Well, I do not my best not to flood my blog posts with an incessant array of stories about my seven grandsons.  But if the truth be told, it has not been easy!  And so, today, I just cannot resist relating just such a story…

My daughter has three little boys. The oldest, at age 6, has been playing baseball for a couple of years now.  The youngest one, at age 2, has a year or two before he is old enough to play.  The middle one, age 4, started playing T-Ball for the first time this year.

After sign-ups, he got all excited.  And then the day came when he got his uniform.  He got all decked out the moment it arrived.  He had a hat, shirt, pants, a glove, and a bat.  He had his mom send word; so my wife and I went over to see him in his finery. 

When we arrived, he stepped out in full regalia.  He then paraded repeatedly around the living room all full of himself.  As he did, he kept on looking at me saying over and over again:  “Look at me, Granddaddy, look at me, Granddaddy!”  Needless to say, he was a sight worth seeing!

Fast forward three weeks…  It is now opening day; and while he is once again decked out, he is no longer in the relatively safe confines of his living room.  Now, he is actually out on the field playing ball.  Or so was the expectation.

For now, even though he was once again decked out in all his finery, it was time to play ball.  And when the ball was put into play and snaked its way out to him where he had been ensconced by the coach in the relatively innocuous position of short field, it was indeed time for him to play ball!

Unfortunately, as you may have already surmised, he did not have clue what to do.  Despite a chorus of instruction from the bleachers, several of his teammates, and, above all, his coaches, did simply not have a clue what to do!

A vastly more experienced 5-year-old infielder had to run out and retrieve the ball and throw it back in.  Only, by then, two runs had crossed the plate and the batter was standing on second base.  

Now, don’t flood me with hate mail.  I and the rest of his family all know that he will figure out how to play the game in time.  After all, his older brother certainly has.  After all, the two of them play on the same team; and his older brother finished the game with 3 hits, 5 RBIs, and having gotten out most of the opposing hitters by fielding their batted balls at the pitcher’s mound and running them down and tagging them out on their way first base.  (Ooops!  Here I am telling you about my grandchildren!)

Still, it is not the oldest, but the beloved second grandson that I wish to focus on here.  You see, for all his finery, for all his adornment, for all his strutting around in his uniform, he simply did not have a clue about how to actually play the game of baseball! 

Despite how proud he was of how he looked, he just had no idea
of what his coach expected of him as he actually played the game!  And this leads me to my point…

As I reflected on all of this, I could not help but think of Jesus’ story in the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter 18, verses 9-14…

“9To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’

13But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ 14I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”


In Jesus’ story, the Pharisee was obviously quite full of himself.  Decked out in all his finery and adornment as he was, he clearly wanted others to know just how impressive he was, as he strutted before them right down front at the altar!  

And yet, the glaring truth is that he did not have a clue about how to actually please Almighty God!


By contrast, in Jesus’ story, the poor publican did.  He humbled himself before Almighty God (as well as all others who cared to look), and prayed that Lord would grant him mercy.  As a result, Jesus tells us that he, and not the haughty Pharisee, left the House of God that day justified.

My little grandson, in his simple, unassuming 4-year-old innocent naïveté, reminded me of a tremendous truth – the same one asserted here by Jesus.  And that truth is that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted!

The real question, of course, is whether or not you, too, see this.  For at the end of the day, it is far, far better to actually fulfill the part one has been allotted than it is just to look that part! 

And that alone looks like it is a sight worth seeing!

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/bsb/luke/18.htm.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All