Choices We Make

I found this information about Bob Feller in a sermon by an unknown preacher which related the material to a magazine article: “Overrated, Underrated,” in American Heritage by Kevin Miller.

The article reports that when Pearl Harbor was bombed, one of the Americans who volunteered to serve his country was Bob Feller. Bob was a 23-year-old pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. He had already pitched a no-hitter and won 107 games. When he returned to baseball after serving his country, Bob threw two more no-hitters and won a total of 266 games.

The article goes on to explain that some statisticians think Feller may be the most underrated baseball player of all time because he lost some of his prime baseball years during his time in the service of his country, and would probably have won another 70-110 games. However, when asked if he regretted his wartime service he responded, “No, I’ve made many mistakes in my life. That wasn’t one of them.”

It is obvious to me that Bob Feller was driven by something more important than personal acclaim, self-promotion, or mindless ambition. If such a man could look back on his life and feel confident that he had chosen the best path, then think about how it is for the man who chooses to give up this world’s pleasures for the eternal rewards of selfless service to Holy God.

From time to time you and I will stop along life’s pathway to consider where we might have gone. I’m certain that those stops never include regret that we’ve chosen the path of righteousness, He has led us in. As we become more and more like Him in our daily walk, the things of this world grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

True Selflessness means that we die daily to self, so that we might go where He leads, as He leads. Such selflessness brings satisfaction, even when we walk through the fires of opposition, and receive no recognition from the world. Our satisfaction is rooted and grounded in the profound belief that we have done the “right thing.”

The dilemma for the Believer is that the “right thing” is always God’s will for one’s life. The dedicated disciple can know and do God’s will, and will come at the end of life’s day to say, “I might have made many mistakes, but following Christ was not one of them.”