I love getting to professional baseball games early to watch batting practice and to see these incredible athletes practice their craft. As someone who played baseball through college, it is exciting to see the work that these athletes put in on a daily basis. They have built their lives around training, preparing, and playing baseball. Most ballplayers have careers that are forgotten about. Some players become regulars, starters, and All-Stars over the course of their careers. I know that my coach (one of which was my dad) would encourage me to watch how baseball players prepare, play, and handle adversity in order to learn how to play the game better.

This Sunday is All Saints Sunday, where we remember those saints who have had their triumphal entry into God’s presence over the last year. In the New Testament, a saint simply refers to all Christians across all time. In the book of Hebrews, the author talks about how we are “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses” and encourages us to watch them in order to learn how to persevere in our faith and life. We are called to watch the saints/witnesses are their lives testify to the reality of Jesus in their lives.

I’m always taken aback when I look at the list of saints from our church on All Saints Sunday because their lives have so much to offer us. Even in death, they serve as witnesses to the faithfulness of God. They encourage us to walk faithfully with Jesus and with one another. These witnesses show us that we, too, can walk with Jesus each day. The real question is, who are we watching?