On Oct. 3, 1947, New York Yankee starter Bill Bevens was pitching against the Yankees hated rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, in Game 4 of the World Series. The Yankees were ahead 2-1 and Bevens had a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth (the Dodgers had scored in the fifth after Blevens gave up two walks, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice grounder).

The walks had been troublesome for Blevens that day, though. He had already given up eight walks when the ninth inning started and he gave up two more in the ninth before Cookie Lavagetto came in to pinch hit for Eddie Stanky with two outs and runners on first and second.

In an instant, though, the no-hitter and the victory were gone. Lavagetto doubled and two runs scored to give the Dodgers a 3-2 victory and a 2-2 tie in the best-of-7 series. Although the Yan- kees went on to win the World Series, Bevens lost his chance at history. He could have earned the victory and become the first person to throw a no-hitter in the World Series. Yankee great Don Larsen would accomplish that eight years later (on Oct. 8, 1956, when he threw a perfect game) and Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay would throw the second postseason no-hitter on Oct. 6, 2010.

Our Christian lives are like that, as well. Like walks, if sin keeps piling up, it can be disastrous. David was a man after God’s own heart (I Samuel 13:14, I Kings 14:8, Acts 13:22), but even something small, like not going into battle when he should have, led to disaster.

Are you taking sin lightly or allowing things in your life to slowly erode your relationship with God? If so, ask God to help you get back on solid ground and begin pursuing holiness today.

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