On this day Rickey Henderson stole his 893rd base breaking a tie with the famous Ty Cobb. This put Rickey into third place on the all-time steals list, but he was far from done. Rickey had a long and rich career in baseball. Rickey played from 1979 to 2003 (25 seasons) for nine teams but he is most famous for his time with the Oakland Athletics. He played in ten all Star games, was an AL MVP, a two-time world series champion, and still bears the most home runs by a lead-off hitter. But Rickey did not earn the nickname Man of Steal through those accomplishments. He gained fame as a notorious stealer of bases. Rickey was in the top ten in steals for 21 of his playing seasons. By the end, he had 1406 stolen bases. That's nearly 500 more than Lou Brock who is in second. The closest active player is Dee Strange Gordon who has 331... more than 1000 behind Rickey! What an incredible and memorable career
Stealing bases is exciting and encouraged, but
stealing, in general, is looked down upon and for good reason. The Bible speaks
about the atrocious act of stealing. In the midst of the ten commandments God
tells the people in Exodus 20:5, "you shall not steal." This is a basic and fairly
general command. It doesn't require much explanation or a long sermon. Don't
steal, but stealing is not just robbing a bank or a criminal offense. Stealing
is taking anything, no matter size or value, that is not yours. How often have
we unknowingly taken something that was not ours? How often have we stolen minutes from our employer? How often have we 'borrowed' something with zero intention of bringing it back? God is serious about
stealing. God values integrity and honesty. Let us work hard, not taking shortcuts.
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