On opening day of the 1954 baseball season, the Milwaukee Braves visited the Cincinnati Reds. Two rookies began their major league careers with that game. The Reds won 9 to 8 as Jim Greengrass hit four doubles in his first big-league game. A sensational debut for a young player with a made-for-baseball name!
The rookie starting in left field for the Braves went 0 for 5. Not a very auspicious start for one Henry Aaron.
While the career of Jim Greengrass was short-lived, Henry Aaron went on to play 25 Major League baseball seasons. In 1974, Aaron broke the career record for home runs which had been established by the great Babe Ruth, and ended his career with a whopping 755 home runs. Aaron didn't let the failure of his first game keep him from achieving greatness in the sport that he loved.
In a similar fashion, God wishes for us to rebound from the failures of our past. Through Jesus Christ, we who were once engulfed by our sins and failures can be forgiven. As Christians, we can let go of the sins of our old self for, in the words of the apostle Paul "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians5:17).
Today, take time to let go of the failures of your past that you may still be clinging to and remember that through Jesus we are victorious.
