I Chronicles 26-29, Psalm 127

I went to my great-nephew Colton’s t-ball game last night. (can you say adorable?) I really like the coach. He’s patient as he teaches the fundamentals of the game. The five-year-olds wait eagerly for him to give them their positions. Then, once he tells them where to stand, they run to their place on the field. When he yells, “Baseball ready,” they bend their knees and put their gloves in front of them. Well, most of the time.

At one point Colton sat down and threw dirt on his white baseball pants. Another boy drew lines in the dirt with his foot. Several kids just liked to see the dust fly when they kicked the dirt.

Occasionally, a ball would roll right past an infielder who happened to be playing in the dirt at the time. But, when they are paying attention, every kid wants to be the one to get the ball and throw it to first. It’s not unusual to see five or six of them converge on the ball, grabbing and pushing to be the one to field it.

Coach is working on the concept of playing your position. “You’re on the same team,” he tells them. Then he says, “But good hustle.”

After the game Coach gathered the team together in a huddle. He patted a few heads, gave some high fives. “Good game,” he told them. “Good hitting. I like your hustle.” Then he told them he wanted to work on helping them to play their positions better.

“You’ve got to pay attention to the game,” he said. “Don’t play in the dirt.”

The last chapters of I Chronicles gives the names of people who had positions to fill. Each had an assignment for which they were responsible. And their jobs were integral in the smooth running of the temple’s services.

I thought about that today. Each of us have a position to fill in the smooth running of our churches. Sometimes we might want to step in front of someone who has a different position because we want to be the one to “field” that ball. Sometimes we might get distracted by something or someone and neglect that which we need to be doing.  That ball might just roll right past us.

May we all obey God’s calling and fill the positions He places on our hearts, and as we have opportunity to serve. May we pay attention to our responsibilities. And may we never get caught playing in the dirt when that opportunity to serve is hit our way.