First base syndrome

We've all seen it, especially in youth baseball games or pick-up softball games - the person playing first base gets set to catch a throw from another fielder for a put-out of the batter running toward first. The first baseman puts one foot on the bag and prepares to catch the ball. But, due to the skills of the players in the game, the throw is wide of first base. The first baseman has been told that they need to keep that foot on first base or the out won't count. They stretch as far as they can and still maintain contact with first base but the ball is just too far away. Their foot is on the base but the ball falls far away from any of the fielders and the runner not only reaches first base safely but can then run on to second base base because everyone is scrambling to get the ball (another syndrome that we might talk about some time). I call this "First Base Syndrome". The player has gotten their priorities wrong. Yes, it is very important to keep your foot on first base if you are catching the ball but the higher priority is to not let the ball get by. If you can catch the ball and keep your foot on the base, that's great but don't let the ball get by or you've got two problems. The runner is safe and the runner (and other runners) are going to advance.

I think we all do this from time to time. We are working on two projects at work but we work on a less critical project first because, perhaps, we aren't as sure about how to do the more critical project. Or our child comes to us with a question while we're watching our favorite TV show. We tell the child to wait while we listen to a show that seems so important at the time. We are faced with a problem we know the answer to but we say we'll pray about it because we don't want to face it just then. Prayer is almost always the right thing to do but we shouldn't get our priorities wrong. Sometimes we just need to do what we know needs to be done. We need to take our foot off the base and make sure we've got the ball first.

I'm not saying this to be preachy. I've written this to remind myself. There are important things and then there are more important things. Lord, I pray you will help me to keep it straight!