This is a great story. If you don't know the full history of Josh Hamilton you should take a few minutes and read The Super Natural - Albert Chen - SI.com. As a baseball guy myself I'm simply awed at the skills he possessed as a youngster. In my day I pushed to throw 80 and here he's throwing mid-90's and trying to slow it down because he wants to be drafted as a position player, not a pitcher. Hey Josh, could you give me some of that slowdown?
There he was, at the top of the world, but the higher you are the harder you fall. The once high school phenom had become a crack addict, a nobody, a loser. His hopes of playing baseball were shattered for he was suspended from the game he loved.
But this story did not end there. The Lord has allowed him to come full-circle, now the MVP of the league. Where would he be today if God had not pulled him out of that miry pit? Would he be working a day job, packaging groceries? Would he even be alive?
This story is not so much of the greatness of what a man can do, but more about what God has worked through a man. It is not simply about baseball, it is about a transformed life. The Lord has restored the years lost for Josh. He can do the same for you. God is not concerned about baseball, but He is concerned about you. He loves you and wants to change you. His plan for you is not always easy and happy; it might be a road marked with suffering and sorrow. But how much brighter does the Savior appear when a life is utterly changed? Men are forced to pause, to wonder, and to give praise to God.
Josh was the true definition of a prodigal - wasting his life. In Luke 15 Jesus speaks of the prodigal son; a classic Sunday School story. If you're not familiar with it, give it a quick read. When we think of the prodigal son we think of a loser, someone who squandered what he was given. We like to think we're better than that; "at least I'm not like him" we want to think. And maybe outwardly we aren't like him. Perhaps we've lived a decent life, not causing harm to our neighbor, working hard at our job, faithful to our wife. But God's standard is not horizontal, comparing man with man. His standard is vertical, comparing our life with His demands. He proclaims that all have sinned and have fallen short (Romans 3:23). He has condemned the entire world as under the curse of sin. Have you lied? Um, yes. Have you stolen? Well, maybe something small I suppose. This makes me a liar, a thief. Worse, if Jesus said lust is adultery then I am an adulterer at heart. If to use His name inappropriately is blasphemy, then I am guilty of that, too. If we were to take the Ten Commandments we'd find we're guilty of all.
So who is the prodigal? Is it Josh? Is it the nameless man portrayed in the Gospel of Luke? Yes. But what about you? Are you a prodigal? Are you wasting your life? There is hope, God is patient and desires for all men to be saved (1 Peter 3:9). Repent and believe the Gospel!
This song, The Prodigal, by Sovereign Grace Music sums this up wonderfully, portrayed in a word picture. My friend, you are the prodigal.
You held out Your arms, I walked away
Insolent, I spurned Your face
Squandering the gifts You gave to me
Holding close forbidden things
Destitute, a rebel still, a fool in all my pride
The world I once enjoyed is death to me
No joy, no hope, no life
Where now are the friends that I had bought
Gone with every penny lost
What hope could there be for such as I
Sold out to a world of lies
Oh, to see Your face again, it seems so distant now
Could it be that You would take me back
A servant in Your house
You held out Your arms, I see them still
You never left, You never will
Running to embrace me, now I know
Your cords of love will always hold
Mercy’s robe, a ring of grace
Such favor undeserved
You sing over me and celebrate
The rebel now Your child
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