What does it mean to cover the bases? It may be easier to explain by way of illustration.
A good friend of mine “sort of” believed in God. He was raised in a church that bordered on superstition. This friend had uncontrolled anger, would get drunk, and involved himself in other sinful activities. Living life his way was his motto. But, just in case this whole “God thing” was true, and there is a judgement to follow, he would cover the bases by being in church almost every Sunday of the year. That way he could tell God he was on His side. That’s “covering the bases”. We look at a guy like that and think, the scriptures clearly teach that we are either with Jesus or against Him (Matthew 12:30).
The above example is easy for us to see but what about you and me? When you honestly examine your life, are you really on Jesus’ side or do you find yourself covering the bases? If you live a reduced model of Christianity which consists of attending church on Sunday and being a pretty good person during the week, you may need to ask yourself if you are just trying to cover the bases.
Jesus does not want part of us – He radically demands all of us. Unless we completely surrender to Him as Lord and King of our lives, we cannot be His disciples. In Luke 9:23-24, Jesus says, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it.” That is a radical demand by the only one who is qualified to say it, since He gave His all for us.
Oh, how easy it is to get in the rut of covering the bases! We must examine ourselves daily. We must pledge absolute allegiance to Jesus. We must resist the watered down version of Christianity our culture holds to and hold to scripture instead. That way we can KNOW that we indeed posses eternal life now and in eternity.
…Mike