Cricket Bible Devotions – GRABBING THE GOOGLE GEN FROM GEHENNA MISSION / DUKE JEYARAJ h

WHOLE OF INDIA AIRBOURNE, THANKS TO KOHLI IN MELBOURNE!

Duke Jeyaraj

NOT CARRYING OVER THE BULK OF THE TASK TO THE LAST OVER

50 needed off 19, at one point. That’s what India needed in their opening game versus Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 23 October 2022. Yuvraj Singh scored 50 off 12 balls in a World T20 game, I assured myself. But then, he did that when he hit six sixes in an over, I recalled. So, would one of the remaining three overs be the over when either Virat Kohli or Hardik Pandya, the batsmen at the crease, hit six sixes in an over? These questions boggled my mind. It was 48 runs needed off 18 balls (3 overs), required, shortly later. At one point, it was 28 off 8 balls needed, with Haris Rauf, Pakistan’s best bowler on that day bowling. He was also the most experienced bowler to bowl in the MCG Stadium that day among both the teams. When he removed the dangerous-looking Surya Kumar Yadav with peach of a delivery, one could sense that straight away. That’s when Virat Kohli hit the last two balls of that nineteenth over by Rauf for two of the most astonishing sixes that came in succession in World Cricket in any format! One six, the six off the fifth ball, Rajdeep Sardesai called the “Shot of the Century” comparable with Shane Warne’s “ball of the century”. The equation had became now – 16 off 6. India eventually won, thanks to Ravichandran Ashwin’s calmness, coolness, and composure, off the last ball. The crowd of 90,000+ collectively roared. The whole of India were airbourne, thanks to Kohli in Melbourne, that day! Kohli did not leave the bulk of the scoring for the very last over – a very smart move indeed. It could have been the case of India needing 25+ runs off the last over but for those six twins hit by Kohli in the balls, 18.5 and 18.6.

Do you leave things for the very last minute? That homework. That office assignment. Do we leave things for the last minute when it comes to Salvation? The Bible teaches ‘now’ is the time of Salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). Don’t postpone your coming to Jesus, the one who died for you on the Cross. Come now. After death, which ofcourse can come at anytime, it will be too late (see Heb. 9:27). After Jesus returns like a thief in the night it will be too late, because he is Savior today and Judge tomorrow (2 Thess. 5:2). If the Spirit of God stops speaking to the stubborn human heart – hope it is not your heart heart mate – again it will be a case of too late again (Gen. 6:3).

So, come to the Jesus, the Savior, the only God-in-flesh, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Come now. The next minute may be too late to do this.

BEING CARRIED BY THE CAPTAIN

Captain Rohit Sharma carried Virat Kohli to the delirious joy of onlookers – including Virat’s wife, Anushka – after the game. The Holy Spirit is able to carry us to carry out the laws of God, Prophet Ezekiel wrote (Ezekiel 37:27). Have you given place for the work of the Holy Spirit in your life? It is not how much of the Holy Spirit we have, but how much of us, the Holy Spirit has! That was Billy Graham’s point.

CARRY ON WITH HOPE WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

India had lost four wickets at the half-way mark of their innings (at the 10th over’s end) with their score still in the 40s having to score 160 for a win. They had to score 2 runs per ball, literally every ball of the latter half of their innings. This challenge was huge. But Kohli and Hardik Pandya (who started delivering the first counter punches post the mid-innings break) carried on with hope. Their partnership meant the latter half of India’s innings was more glorious than the first half. “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” This we read in Haggai 2:9. Yes, when we carry on God’s Work with hope when the going gets tough, the latter half will be more glorious than the first half, as the Lord wills and enables us! Don’t quit at half-time! Don’t quit during the hard times! Kohli and Hardik did not.

(Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj, the author of this piece is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, the G4 Mission. This is a reader-supported Indian ministry. Write to us at +91-8886040605 or via emailduke@gmail.com, to know more)

THE SACKING OF KOHLI AS ODI CAPTAIN AND THE CALL FOR SEXUAL PURITY FROM THE BIBLE

Duke Jeyaraj

Virat Kohli was unceremoniously sacked from his position of ODI Captain of India and his position was given to Rohit Sharma in Dec 2021. Earlier on, he himself gave up his role as the captain of the Indian T20 team. The reason for his demotion was not hard to find. While he had one of the best ever win-loss percentages in ODIs among modern captains (over 70 percent), most of those wins came in bilateral series. In multi-team tournaments, like the ICC World Cups, India could not win the Cup when Kohli captained. In short, Kohli could not lead his team to wins in important games. ‘Chasemaster’ and Captain Kohli became ‘choker’ and the-cause-of-pain Kohli when he scored 5 off 9 when India chased 339 for a win in the Champions Trophy final versus Pakistan in 2017. That’s not all. He made 1 off 6 when India chased 240 for a place in the World Cup ODI Final 2019 versus New Zealand. We are not done yet. He made 13 off 29 balls in the crucial second innings in the World Test Championships Final 2021 after India and New Zealand scored almost equally in the first innings. However his counterpart Kane Williamson made 52 runs to take his team, New Zealand to the Test World Cup win. Kohli made underwhelming 9 off 17 when his team depended on him to reach a match-winning first innings score in the crucial T20 Super 12 game versus New Zealand in the World Cup T20 2021. So, Kohli has had a sub-20 score in four crucial innings for India as a Limited Overs Captain (a far cry from his average as a ODI Captain which is nearly 73 runs per innings). This analysis tells the story clearly: when the game gets big, Kohli as Captain underperforms as a batsmen very badly. When his team needs him the most, that is when Kohli would get out early. Hence this unceremonious sacking and handing over of mantle to Rohit Sharma, an accomplished captain who is known to take the team he captains to big tournament wins (He has led Mumbai Indians to five IPL Titles already while Kohli has never led his team RCB even to a single title win).

The highest score of Kohli when it came to knock-out level games in four crucial ICC multi-nation tournaments when he was either ODI or T20 Captain has not crossed 20!!!

Kohli reminds me of Samson of the Bible. While Samson was so keen to keep ritualistic laws as a Nazirite he was not not that keen to keep far more important laws which concerned his personal holiness. He would often talk about not having his hair cut (see Num. 6:1-5 and Jud. 13:5) but he did not cut off his sexually immoral relationship with many women (a violatation of two of the 10 commandments given to all including the Nazirites – ‘You shall not commit adultery’ – Ex. 20:14; ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife’ – Ex. 20:17). What was easy to do – ritualistic purity part – Samson did with great consistency till one point. What was even more important – moral holiness is, see Micah 6:7-8 – Samson blew it. Are we like Samson?

Empowered by the Spirit (Rom. 8:13; Gal. 5:16), let us please God in key matters such as sexual purity (I Cor. 6:18b). When we sin sexually we directly oppose God’s clearly expressed will (I Thess. 4:3) which is one the same important level as his will to welcome everyone for salvation (3 Peter 3:9; I Tim. 2:4). When we live stubbornly in sexual sin we will go to hell (Rev. 21:7-8). But that is not God’s desire for us! God’s desire is that we overcome sin when sin’s allurments come knocking!

(Duke Jeyaraj, the author of this article is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, the G4 Mission, a reader-supported Indian ministry to presentday people. Find out more at http://www.dukev.org. Or WhatsApp him via 91-8886040605. )