On September 30, 1972, 44 years ago today, my dad and I were planning to go watch the Pirates play the Mets. However, the day was overcast and drizzling and I was just getting over a cold, so dad decided it would be best not to attend the game. So we stayed home.
Little did we know that it was on this day that Roberto Clemente, one of my childhood sports heroes, would collect his 3000th hit. Not only that, but this hit ended up being his final hit because he was killed in a plane crash later that year (December 31, 1972).
Had my dad and I known this would have been Clemente’s final hit and that we would never see him play again, we would have braved the inconvenient weather and gone to the game. But we didn’t know. Out of guilt or maybe sympathy, my dad bought me a copy of this photo of Clemente getting his 3000th hit.
Have you ever considered how hindsight would change your life. How many decisions would we change “if we only knew…?” Oh, going or not going to see Clemente get his 3000th hit has never caused me to lose any sleep. It was a disappointment, but it was quickly followed by an “oh well, life goes on.”
However, have you considered how many people make decisions that will haunt them, not just in this life, but all throughout eternity? How many people have been thrust into eternity by an unexpected and untimely death unprepared to meet God? I wonder how many people look back with regret for the decisions they made?
Listen, missing a ballgame is no big deal. Putting off obedience to the Lord and missing heaven is tragic! There are countless people in eternity who, in hindsight, would give anything to have a do-over, but no such opportunity will be given to them; it’s too late.
Let that be a lesson to us before it’s too late, and we join the ranks of those who regret their choices and long for an opportunity to change them that will never come.