How to Defeat Harmful Habits (Counseling Through the Bible Series) (20 page)
“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together…but let us encourage one another”
(H
EBREWS
10:24-25).
7. Share your struggles with caring loved ones.
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed”
(J
AMES
5:16).
8. Have confidence in God! Prioritize deepening your relationship with Him.
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”
(M
ATTHEW
6:33).
9. Depend on Christ’s strength to stay drug-free.
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength”
(P
HILIPPIANS
4:13).
10. Know that permanent change is possible.
“Jesus…said, ‘With God all things are possible’”
(M
ATTHEW
19:26).
Epilogue: The Two Heroes“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!”
(I
SAIAH
43:18-19).
A new thing
. That’s the best way to describe the transformation God brought about in Josh Hamilton’s life. Josh is not only back in the game, he’s on top of his game.
In September 2010, the Texas Rangers clinched the American League West Championship, and their star outfielder racked up impressive stats for the year: .361 batting average, 31 home runs, and 97 runs batted in. And the years since his reinstatement to baseball marked stellar accomplishments for Josh, who has been nicknamed “the Hammer” for his powerful batting arm. Among Josh’s honors since 2008 are his being named the Rangers’ Most Valuable Player, making the all-star team, and hitting the second most home runs in history in the annual home run derby preceding the all-star game. What’s more, “the Hammer” has been likened to “the Mick.”
As the Texas Rangers celebrated their championship with champagne and beer showers in the locker room, Josh Hamilton stayed dry outside—and sober—choosing instead to be at the ballpark to speak at Faith Day.
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And it’s all because God had done a new thing.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland”
(I
SAIAH
43:19).
A new thing
is also the best way to describe the transformation God brought about in Mickey Mantle’s life—not when he was on top of his game, but in the final inning of his life.
At Mickey’s funeral, Bobby Richardson told 2,000 mourners and a national TV audience that there are only two groups of people: those who say “yes” to Christ and those who say “no.” He added that, since none of us knows when he will face his own final inning, saying “maybe” is really saying “no.”
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Bobby, Mickey’s Yankee teammate, knew that in the final inning of his life, Mickey said
yes
, and crossed over from death to life. As Jesus said, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
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Our all-American hero became a new creation even as he approached death. Mickey died on August 13, 1995, at the age of 63, and his final months were not marred by his trademark foulmouthed, falling-down-drunk behavior. One writer described the “new” Mickey Mantle: “In those last days and weeks, even as his body was breaking down, Mickey Mantle had acquired, quietly and with almost an ethereal elegance, a strength and dignity he did not know he possessed. He faced his own death with that strength and became a new kind of hero.”
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The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This new strength and dignity did not come from Mickey Mantle, but from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Ultimately, at the end of his earthly life, he gained eternal life.
You may say, “I can’t…I’ve tried…I just can’t do it!” Well, maybe it’s true that you don’t have the stamina to stop and stay stopped. But understand, Christ hasn’t called you to stay sober alone. The Bible reveals this secret…
“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it”
(1 T
HESSALONIANS
5:24
ESV
).
—J
UNE
H
UNT
