It’s fun to watch youngsters play baseball and softball. Sometimes they don’t listen to their coaches very well, which leads to some frustration on the part of the coaching staff.

However, sometimes they do listen.

One little girl’s coach had obviously told her to be ready in the batter’s box. Ready she was, with her eyes steadily riveted on the pitcher and her hands tightly clenched around the bat handle. Crouching slightly in her stance, this young lady could have been the poster child for readiness. Even when the pitch got away from the catcher and rolled to the backstop, and the catcher’s return throw to the mound went beyond the pitcher and had to be retrieved by an infielder…this girl never lost her focus! Every split second, she was ready!

Jesus says we must be in a constant state of readiness for his return. He will come at a time when many are unprepared, like a “thief in the night”. We mustn’t be caught off guard!

“What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”—Mark 13:35.