Everyone's Hero - A Great Movie

So there's a movie theatre here in Greenville that shows free movies for kids on Tues - Thurs. This week's offering was a choice between something I can't remember the name of and "Everyone's Hero". My wife and boys had already seen the movie, but I hadn't so I decided we would check it out today.

I'm really glad I did. The scene is the Great Depression and Babe Ruth and the Yankees are the pride of the nation. Yankee Irving is a kid with a dream and he loves the game of baseball. He loves it so much that he dreams of hitting in the World Series. Only one problem, he can't hit - AT ALL. And so, he's the typical kid with a dream who will probably never see it come true. He's always chosen last. He's the outcast.

Yankee's dad works for the New York Yankees and through an evil plot by the Cubs owner and "Lefty", Babe Ruth's famed bat "Darlin" is stolen and Yankee's dad is blamed for it and fired by the ball club. Having seen the thief's face, the kid knows who the burglar is and sets out on a whirlwind journey with his trusty baseball "Screwy" to retrieve the famous bat and return it to the Yankee Slugger.

Needless to say, it's a kids' movie, and as all kid movies do, ends with a happy ending. If you think long and hard, you'll guess the ending. But one thing struck me at the very end of this movie. And I can't explain it, God just keeps speaking to me through kids movies. It's two weeks in a row. There's a line at the end of the movie that got me to thinking that I want to expound upon a little in this post. The line was:

"No matter how bad they tell you that you are, and no matter how much they say you don't matter, just keep swingin. Cause it ain't the bat that makes the difference, it's the batter".

And you know, they're absolutely right. Except in this instance, we are the bat, and God is the batter. He swings us, not the other way around. You see, we're all worthless. I'm sorry if that offends you, but it's the truth. You have no ability to do anything good or great. You're a sorry sack of nothing that is as worthless as a baseball bat that just lays in the closet day after day. You're useless and just taking up space and collecting dust.

UNTIL, the Master picks you up. And once the Master picks you up and begins to swing you around a little bit, then miracles can happen. You see, a baseball bat is a worthless dead tree worth all of about $20, but when you put it in the hands of Barry Bonds, it's a part of history and will be put on display in the Hall of Fame. A golf club is just a worthless crappy piece of steel with no value whatsoever, but you put it in the hands of Tiger Woods, and you have memories at the Masters that last a lifetime.

So it goes with us. We are worthless hostile, evil beings that stand in the shadow of God's wrath. Until Jesus picks us up and then we are Kings. We are heirs. We will reign eternally with Him. We are a royal priesthood. We are a holy nation. We will sit side by side with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Job, Solomon, Jesus, John, Peter, Paul, and Mary (sorry got carried away). But it's true. Once the master picks us up with His nail-scarred hands we change entirely and become instruments of His glory to make history and miracles happen. His power flows through us. And our nature, and our potential are changed and altered on an infinite scale.

But, as the Bible says, apart from Him we can do NOTHING. Just like a bat laying in the closet. I thank God that he picked me up and didn't let me lay there. I may have dents, scars, chips missing and I may be worn out and warped in certain places, but in the hands of my Master, I can see eternity changed forever in the lives of other people.

Jesus is my hero. He should be your hero. And one day, Lord willing, he will be "Everyone's Hero". It was a great flick. You should go watch it!