NO. 1135 -- PLAYING BALL ON SUNDAY!
No. 1135
Jim Davidson...NEWSPAPER COLUMN
PLAYING BALL ON SUNDAY!
In some circles, what I am going to say in this column will be about as welcome as a paranoid skunk that comes uninvited to an outdoor wedding. My thoughts were crystallized and embellished in my mind one Sunday morning recently when Janis and I took a different route to church. This particular morning we had the responsibility of providing the snacks for our Sunday school fellowship time, prior to the start of the lesson. We both agreed that the class members would love a Krispy Krème doughnut. Yum!!
On our way to the doughnut shop we passed the city-owned baseball fields and could not believe that baseball games, on several different diamonds, were in full swing. Since we are both from the older generation, we agreed that this would never have taken place back when we were growing up. Ball games on Sunday afternoon, yes, but not on Sunday morning when most people, and their children, were in church. We both know that times have changed, but children playing baseball on Sunday morning was different than what we were used to. When I thought about this, I realized that we are now part of a culture that is far different from what our forefathers had envisioned for us. Now, please understand that what I am going to say from this point on is not meant to be a chastisement and certainly not a condemnation, but rather a reminder of what took place in a day and time when God, and His church, were revered and made a top priority in people’s lives.
In those days we did not have the crime and violence taking place, and didn’t have persons robbing or shooting us on a mall parking lot. We felt safe in those days, which is certainly not the case today. If you are a Christian then you know about our heritage and what the Bible says about putting God first in our lives, and honoring Him and His word on the Sabbath. If you are not a Christian, and especially if you are a parent, please allow me to share the following verses of scripture, from what we know as the Fourth of the Ten Commandments.
Exodus 20:8-11, “Remember to dedicate the Sabbath day: you are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.”
Now, when it comes to our nation’s youth playing ball on Sunday morning, the power and the option have always been with the parents, as it should be. The parents of these children playing ball could simply say, “You can play ball any other time, but not on Sunday morning, as we will honor and reverence the Lord.” Now please understand, this is not a commercial for the church but rather for the hearts and minds of the American people who choose to place God and His word at the very heart of their lives. May I leave you with this verse to ponder found in Psalms 33:12: “Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen to be His own possession.”
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(Editor’s Note: THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY – Begin your day on a positive note – 365 days for $12. This will benefit the Bookcase for Every Child project. Go to www.apositivemomentwithjim.com to subscribe.)
