In his book Men At Work, columnist George Will mentions the firm justice meted out by baseball umpires. He writes, "Toughness is not enough, but it is necessary. Once when Babe Pinelli called Babe Ruth out on strikes, Ruth made a populist argument. Ruth reasoned fallaciously (as populists do) from raw numbers to moral weight: 'There's 40,000 people here who know that last one was a ball, tomato head.' Pinelli replied with the measured stateliness of John Marshall: 'Maybe so, but mine is the only opinion that counts.'"

The apostle Paul knew that at the end of our days only one opinion will matter--that of the ultimate Umpire, the "righteous Judge" before whom we play the game of life (2 Tim. 4:8).

As he wrote his second letter to Timothy, Paul was sitting in a cold, damp dungeon. Like an athlete who had spent his strength to win the prize, Paul had persevered. During his 30 years of ministry, a thousand voices had urged him to cheat in the race, throw in the towel, compromise the faith. But Paul had decided that he would not listen to the voices of the crowd. He had only one Judge to please. He was ready to meet the Umpire of the universe.

Are you ready to meet Him too?  — Haddon W. Robinson