God Made the Call Right The First Time

Both baseball and football have more rules in regard to reviewing plays to make sure the right call on a play is being made. There has already been many controversies to the chagrin of fans and players. Football has the red flag and baseball has instant replay.

This past summer (2012), Washington Nationals baseball team’s Michael Morse was asked to mime a grand slam in the first inning of the Nationals-Cardinals game after a call was overturned, leading to an odd, albeit hilarious, situation at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Morse hit a fly ball to right field with the bases loaded in the first inning off Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse. The ball bounced off the second wall in right field and back onto the field, so right fielder Carlos Beltran played it like a live ball. Beltran threw the ball into the infield, and second baseman Skip Schumaker chased down Morse and tagged him out. At that point, Morse would have been credited with an RBI single to put the Nationals up 1-0.

The umpires decided to review the call and, after looking at replays, they determined that the ball bounced into play after hitting the second wall, which is considered a home run. They reset the runners on the bases, and they asked Morse to return to home plate (after touching first base on his way back) to mime a grand slam.

Morse happily obliged, and he was credited with his fourth career grand slam to give the Nationals a 4-0 lead. Even though it was odd seeing the umpires recreate the situation, the important thing is that they got the call right.

Truth is stranger than fiction.

God does not need to review the call he has made, he made the call right the first time. For context sake, we need to remember the way God does things. The scriptures says that God “left not himself without witness…for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Acts 14:17; Jude 1:3).  What the Bible teaches, the truth that he has made known in his Word does not need a do- over. It was then complete, and that nothing was to be added to it.  It was done once and completed once and is not subject to review. Anything that is new as far as adding to what God has already revealed is a review. It is not of God. It is unnecessary and unacceptable. God made the call right the first time.

God has also called you to come to Jesus and be saved! What a play God made! It was awesome as he caught your falling soul.  Watch it in slow motion sometime! The crowd of witnesses went wild! What an awesome hit Jesus made when he knocked sin, death and hell out of the park!!! But some always question and think it was an incomplete catch or it was not a real home run and claim it was only a ground rule double or had fan interference. they cannot possibly be children of God now they question and want them to review in in the booth. But God made the call right the first time.

When you heard the gospel by preaching, the Holy Spirit joined himself in power to those words and created the miracle of salvation in your heart. You were an unworthy, undeserving law breaker both unwilling and unable to love and serve God. All of that is true!  Some would question and throw out the red flag questioning why God would save ungodly people like you and I. They look at our lives even now and we are far from perfect, and we still do do dumb things.  People look on it cynically, like some look on people who convert to Christ in prison and call for an instant replay of your sins and actions with a smirk.  But God refuses to be questioned about this decision. God made the call right the first time. There is no need for review.

Paul says, “He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess. 2:14). The gospel of grace is a divine power that brings salvation (Rom 1:16). We are not to be ashamed of it, it needs no review. God has called you by His grace through the precious blood of Jesus poured out on the Cross and  that will never be rethought, amended or rescinded. “The God of all grace, who called you”  is never going to change his mind about saving you (1 Peter 5:10; Rom 11:29).

It was his call.

It was his decision.

Our conscience may fight against this because it has an instant replay and reviews our bad decisions-our sins. The rules and laws of Moses sometimes are seen more clearly in their review of our lives rather than the solution that God gave for the sin problem, Jesus.

It is Christ alone who saves and delights to save. Your call to salvation and salvation itself will it never be subject to review.  The Bible says, “Those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Rom 8:30).

God made the call right the first time.  Be at peace.