The Ballestero Blog

You Can Die In The Bleachers, Or You Can Die On The Field.

The Drudge Report revealed earlier this year that a baseball fan died at a Rangers game. It was an unexpected shock, I’m sure. No one’s death is ever taken lightly, on the field or off. All of us are saddened at the news of one’s death.

The fear of dying is normal. Living with fear is not. There have been some that have died on the field. There have also been some that have died in the bleachers.

In sports, spectators may fill up an arena, but it’s those on the field that hold everyone’s attention.

Professional spectators are very vocal with their opinions and criticisms. They freely spout the names of players and coaches. They can rattle off statistics and scores faster than a ticker tape.

But they are not players. They are not even on the field. Chances are, they’ve never been on the field, nor do the have any plans of being there either. They just like to talk. There are millions of them that sit in the bleachers. Only a few others ever make it onto the field.

In the Gospel Arena, we too have a lot of spectators. The field is where the action is. We need more Holy Ghost filled folks out on the field.

• There are no age requirements.
• There are no height or weight restrictions.
• There are no gender or race limitations.
• There’s not even any IQ test.
• We all qualify to be a witness.
• We all qualify to be a worshipper.
• We all qualify to be the light of the world.
• We all qualify to be the salt of the earth.
• We all quality to labor in the harvest.

Jesus made an appeal to those that have spent their life sitting in the bleachers. It’s harvest time.

Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

How many of us pray this prayer? How often? It’s kind of hard to pray this prayer without doing something about it.

As a teen, I remember revival meetings, youth camps, missionary services that challenged us all to respond to the “call.”

We don’t hear many messages like that anymore challenging us to give our life to His service. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why they stopped making appeals.

We know that most of us will never be Missionaries in the literal sense. Most all of us will never be Pastors either. But we all can so something for the Kingdom. Don’t be afraid to get involved in winning the lost.

Push your pride aside. Lay your excuses down. Now is the time to win that soul. Now is the time to let your light shine. Now is the time to teach that Home Bible Study. Now is the time to knock on that neighbor’s door.

The fear of dying is normal. Living with fear is not. There have been some that have died on the field. There have also been some that have died in the bleachers.

In the Old Testament, a curse was placed on those that wanted to watch while the others fought. They were too busy or too fearful to get involved. They had an excuse. They were cursed because of that.

Judges 5:23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.

They were too busy taking care of their own needs. The things of the Lord came place second to them.

In the same chapter, two tribes of Israel were honored, because they were willing to lay their very lives on the line. God never forgot that.

Judges 5:18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.

The tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali later made up the group of people called the Galileans. No one even has to be a Bible scholar to remember that it was upon the Galileans that the Holy Ghost was first poured out in the book of Acts.

Acts 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

God rewards those that are willing put their life on the line for Him. He rewards them first. The Galileans received the Holy Ghost before anyone else.

Some may wonder why there is not much in the way of blessings in their life. Maybe, just maybe, it’s because they are still sitting in the bleachers.

The fear of dying is normal. Living with fear is not. There have been some that have died on the field. There have also been some that have died in the bleachers.

• Come on now.
• How long have you been sitting in the bleachers?
• Isn’t it time we all got out of the bleachers and got out on the field?

Yes, in due time we all will die. But I would rather die on the field trying to do something for God, than die in the bleachers… watching.

Where Do You Plan To Die?