Concentrating on the Fundamentals

Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psa 1:4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Psa 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Psa 1:6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

 

As you know from the last blog I recently went to the Dominican Republic on a baseball outreach (short-term mission trip). While there we everyday normal guys got to mingle with some not so normal everyday guys. These were professional baseball players and while they turned out to be as normal in their Christian life as any one else they are still professional baseball players. Therefore, as a high school coach I picked their brains for ideas and stories for the boys. One player told of his time with Alex Rodriguez while playing for the Texas Rangers. It was this player's rookie season and he tells us that Alex taught him about visualizing the fundamentals.

He said Alex had a nightly routine where he would take imaginary batting practice and talk to himself as he swung the "bat." He would coach himself through each fundamental movement of a textbook swing. When asked why he did this Alex responded that your brain is like a computer you program and the body does what the computer tells it to do. Alex asked this player if he had ever been out in a mall and ran into someone you know you know but you cannot think of their name, but then a few days latter the name comes to your mind. That is because you have not placed the name into the brain enough for it to come back immediately. Well when I hit my mind does not have to reach deep to know how to hit properly because I keep it near the front by repeating the steps to a perfect swing every night.

As I was thinking about God's word this morning and this passage this story returned to my mind. You see we are consistently putting things in our mind. We take in everything around us: sights, sounds, smells, and touches. We store these for memories both good and bad. You are in a food joint and music is playing. This music is not godly but you are having a good time with friends, the food is good, the service is good, the music may be stored as good because it is background and you did not tell your mind the music is bad but the other stuff is good. Therefore, we must be alert to not allowing the counsel of the ungodly, the way of sinners, or the sounds of the scornful to piggy back into our minds on good thoughts. Every heard a prayer gossip request but forgot to remind yourself that it was more gossip than prayer request? That is the idea here. Often we do not create this block because we do not realize we need to block these parasites.

That brings me to point number two: If we meditate day and night, like "A-Rod's" routine, on God's word we will recognize the song because our conscience will be assaulted. Then we can block that as the counsel or way of the ungodly. God's word will be foremost and not some random wolf thoughts in sheepskin memories.

When we do this we are promised to be blessed by God. If a professional baseball player can use this mental exercise to play a game and be better, should we do any less as Christians dealing with eternal matters?

Visualize God's way today!