When the ball hits the bat

Reggie Jackson hitting longest recorded HR

How crucial it is to get off to the right start. Many times what someone sets out to accomplish can be plagued from its inception. You could have the greatest of goals in mind yet be spurred on by the worst of motives. I want to find the cure for cancer, so that I might become the richest man in the world. It doesn't sound quite right, does it? But for those whose motives are God-driven, getting off on the right foot is imperative. Everybody knows this. I think.

Train up a child in the way he should go, 
And when he is old he will not depart from it.         

--Proverbs 22:6 

Whether it's one's desire for a great marriage, running a successful business, building a powerful ministry or raising a child-- the initial steps taken or not taken will greatly impact where it will end up.

Anyone who has ever hit, shot or thrown a spherical object competitively knows that the angle 
at which a ball leaves a surface has a huge influence on where it ends up. Whether it's a golf ball launched from the head of a driver, a tennis ball bounding off a racket, a basketball arching out of a shooter's hand or a hand ball ricocheting off a cement wall, its initial trajectory can mean everything. Obviously, other factors such as velocity are involved as well. If two balls leave the same spot with the same trajectory, but one of them is moving only half as fast, then you will not have the same result. I get that, but here's the point:  Most of the time, home run hitters know when they have hit one out of the park from the moment the ball hits the bat. They don't even have to watch it go over the fence. They know it's gone. Their swing is consistently the same. They swing with the same power each time. It's the way the ball leaves the bat, its trajectory which determines whether it will be a home run ball or not. Life is too short for me to travel down roads which will send me on the wrong trajectory, and eventually result in dead ends. From the very onset, from the formative stages of any undertaking, I want to get off on the right foot. I need God to give me guidance. I need Him to help me establish my ways. I want to have the right trajectory-- neither over-shooting or falling short. I want to be consistent in my walk with Him and I want to have the perseverance necessary to finish what I start.