“And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” - Luke 23:42
In 1959, Harvey Haddix nearly pitched a perfect game for the Pittsburgh Pirates, going 12 innings without giving up a single hit. He was throwing against the Braves, and it had to be demoralizing to go 12 innings without a single hit or getting a single runner on base. I mean, this guy was seemingly unstoppable. And then, in the 13th inning, a fielding error allowed a runner to get on base. Then, he walked a batter. Not great, but he still hadn’t allowed a hit. Then, on the final swing of the game, Braves batter Felix Mantilla swung with everything he had. With a massive crack of the bat, the ball flew into a gap in center field. Mantilla rounded first headed for second, and the runner on second went to home plate to score. Haddix had gone the entire game without allowing a single hit, and his team still lost because of the lost pitch.
Now you may be thinking, firstly, that is incredibly demoralizing, why would you tell me that? And secondly you may say, what does this have to do with Jesus? I’ll tell you. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, a thief looked over to him and said “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” and Jesus told the man, “Surely today you will be with me in paradise.” Do you realize the implication here? Outside of Jesus, in general crucifixion was reserved for the worst of the worst. This is not a man who stole a loaf of bread one time. Whatever thieving he had done, it was severe, he had gone severely astray in his life. And yet, in his last moment, with the devil thinking he had won the game, he swung for the fences and Jesus said “Surely today, you’ll be with me.”
You may be in a place in your life where you feel the devil has thrown a no-hitter against you, like all you’ve done whether in your whole life, or just the last few weeks, is swing and miss. But this brief moment on the cross teaches us something vitally important: It’s never too late. As long as you are living, you have another chance to take a swing. Whatever struggles you’ve had, whatever failures you’re facing, whatever mistakes you’ve made, it isn’t too late for you, it isn’t over, and all it takes, whether for Eternal Salvation, or the daily salvation that comes from the comfort of His presence, is to reach out to Jesus. It’s never too late to ruin the devil’s perfect game.
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