I am currently coaching two baseball teams—one is tee ball, and the other is coach pitch. As you can imagine, these kids are just now learning the fundamentals of the game. How to throw, how to catch, the way you’re supposed to step when you throw. All of the things.
I remember being their age and looking up to pros like Ken Griffey Jr. and wanting to emulate what they did. However, what I didn’t realize then was that not only did they have years of practice, but the simplest movements that I was just learning had become muscle memory for them.
No longer did they have to think about what to do when they stepped into the batter’s box to hit, or how to position their glove when the ball was rolling at them. They had learned and committed it to memory because of all the practice and repetition over the years.
I was recently considering how this can relate to obedience to Jesus and making wise, godly decisions. Often, the wisdom and obedience we need for the big, difficult decisions come from the “muscle memory” we create by regular time spent in the Scriptures and obedience to God in our everyday routines—our conversations, opportunities to share Jesus and show kindness to others, etc. As we learn and grow in what God wants us to do and consistently obey in the day-to-day, we learn and grow in godliness. Obedience to God in the “big” stuff becomes easier as we obey Him in the “small” stuff.
“Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.” —Luke 16:10
We all want to successfully hit the curveballs that life throws at us, but that starts by learning to hit off a tee. Consider today what steps you can take to better develop your “muscle memory” of obedience and godliness.
