But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.  ––Hebrews 10:12-14

Batting .400 in a season is nearly impossible today for a Major League Baseball player, what with the quality and parity of pitching. In fact, it’s been more than 80 years since Josh Gibson did it (he batted .466 in 1943). A few modern-day players have come close: Tony Gwynn in 1994 (.394), George Brett in ’80 (.390), Rod Carew in ’77 (.388), and Ted Williams in ’57 (.388).

Four hundred is also a great stat for three-point shooters in the NBA. For example, Steve Kerr—who won a gold medal as the US Men’s Olympic basketball coach at the ’24 Summer Games—holds the NBA record for the highest career three-point percentage at .454. Today’s percentage leaders include Steph Curry (of course) at .430, Luke Kennard at .437, and Sam Hauser at .411.

However, when it comes to honoring God, none of us wants to bat .400. In fact, that’s exactly the percentage of good kings Judah produced in the single dynasty of David. In other words, of the 20 kings that followed King David, only eight were accounted as “good” in the scriptures. As a result, things devolved to the point that the land was filled with pagan idols and was repeatedly overrun by foreign enemies. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the kingdom was conquered by Babylon in 586 BC, and the people were exiled.

What’s your “good day” ratio? Are forty percent of your days spent walking close to God? Before you answer that, think about this: When we are in Christ, we have a Team Leader who bats .1000. Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, as Romans 8:3 tells us.

The greatest miracle of this thing called the Christian life is that we don’t have to bat .400 or better, or nail forty percent of our shots from beyond the arc. Why? Because God doesn’t grade in percentages: We are either one thousand percent accepted into His kingdom, or we are not. There are no half measures. When we become a follower of Jesus, we stop playing the world’s number games.

No more striving; no more score-keeping; no more comparison games. Because of Jesus, we win—one thousand percent of the time.

Lord, I am one-thousand percent grateful that You are not keeping score—that You have cast my sin as far as the east is from the west. Thank You for Your grace and mercy today!

 

 

Every Man Ministries