Johnny Henderson loved baseball more than any other sport. Every day after school and every day over summer break he and his friends would race to the park, trying to be the first one to the batter’s box. Johnny’s favorite part about baseball was getting to bat. He loved swinging at the pitch with everything he had; every now and then he’d knock a pitch out of the park but usually he’d hit nothing but air. No matter what, though, when the pitch was coming, Johnny was swinging.

One day Johnny and his friends went to play a game and they noticed the coach of the local little league team was there. Coach Franklin was looking to add a new batter to the team and wanted to see Johnny and his friends play. Johnny, like always, stepped up and took a big swing at the first pitch he saw—strike one. He swung again—strike two. And again—strike three! Johnny was out!

Feeling sad, Johnny walked over to the bench and sat by himself. A little bit later coach Franklin came to sit by him.

“Don’t be sad, Johnny” the coach said, “you’ve got a lot of potential, you just need some coaching and you can be great.”

“You think so?” Johnny asked, looking a little more hopeful.

“Sure I do. Do you know the story of Peter when he first met Jesus?” coach Franklin asked as he pulled out a little New Testament from his back pocket.

Johnny shook his head as the coach flipped over to John 1:38-42. “When Jesus first saw Peter he saw a person who had a lot of potential, but who also needed a lot of work to become the person God wanted him to be. Jesus said to him: Your name is “Simon,” but I’m going to call you “Peter,” which means “a stone.” Jesus saw the potential in Peter to be a building block of His kingdom.”

Johnny sat quietly as coach Franklin turned his Bible pages over to Luke 5:1-11. “Later, Peter was fishing with his brother when he saw Jesus again. Though he’d been trying all night he had not caught any fish. Jesus told them to try one more time and when they did they brought in so many fish their nets broke, all because Jesus had told them to! After that, Peter threw down his nets and started following Jesus, ready to live up to the potential that He saw in him.”

 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

John 1:38-42

 

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Luke 1:5-11

Jesus sees potential in all of us, and if we trust Him and do what He tells us to, we will achieve great things for him!