THREE DUCKS IN THEIR BIGGEST ODI GAME & OUR "DUCK" WHEN IT COMES TO SALVATION

Duke Jeyaraj brings out a spiritual truth from the Bible starting with an event from the World Cup Cricket Final 2015

Andrew Ramsey wrote the following line about Brendon McCullum's 3-ball duck in the World Cup Final 2015 versus Australia in Melbourne before 90,000 plus people: "If two successive air swings were not sufficient to alert McCullum to the peril that Starc posed, the third ensured the visiting captain’s World Cup Final batting memories will be brief, bitter and bereft of any contact between bat and ball." Later in the New Zealand innings, two other batsmen, Corey Anderson (one time record holder for the fastest ODI hundred) and Luke Ronchi (whose ODI highest score is 170 runs) also recorded ducks. Three of the cleanest ball-strikers in the Kiwi line-up scored ducks in their biggest ever ODI game.

Ducks. Zeroes. These words reminds me of our score when we compare it with the score of God's score when it comes to purity: it is nought. We have ALL sinned and fallen short of His glory, the Bible records (Rom. 3:23). In other words: we have a duck across our name when it comes to salvation. We can't make it heaven with our merits. We cannot save ourselves through our effort. Our good morals are like filthy rags (like menstrual cloth) before God, Isaiah wrote. All our "g-o-o-d" minus "G-O-D" is just a 0 - a zero (as someone said). But there is only one who coverts that duck into a hundred. That's Jesus, the God in flesh, the only one who never ever sinned, the one Mediator between God and Man. All one needs to be saved is to put one's trust in this Jesus, who died for us on the Cross and arose, with a repentant heart (Luke 13:5; Rom. 10:9). Paul writes, "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith..." (Eph 2:8). Would you come to Jesus to accept this free gift of salvation? Would you do it now?

DISAPPOINTED WITH OUR BATTING STARS? MEET THE “STAR” WHO WON’T Y EVER!

Duke Jeyaraj put key moments of the India-Australia World Cup SemiFinal in Sydney on 26th March 2015 in poetry with an interesting thought at the end

Virat Kohli is undoubtedly World Cricket’s Biggest Batting Star,

His multiple, mind-boggling, batting feats keeps raising the bar,

Batting first, the Aussies had in this knockout game posted a total above par,

He arrived at the crease, when India’s target of 329, despite the brisk 70+ opening partnership, was still very far,

A match-winning 150 would he would score in that India-Australia war?

After such a knock would he blow kisses to Anushka Sharma, his girl yaar?

Those were the skyrocketing expectations Indian fans had about their Batting Caesar,

Like my daughter, who unable to resist temptation, would often reach for the Nutella jar,

He fished outside the offstump for balls from which he should have stayed afar,

His batting tempo appeared far slower than what he drove during the TV ad break: the car,

Pretty soon, the Aussie keeper easily caught an edge from his bat without a sweat or a scar!

With Rohit and Raina following him soon, India’s World Cup Celebration cake did char!

Rahane was out when his snick, amidst Sydney’s deafening noise, caught Steven Smith’s alert ear,

Maxwell’s direct hit caught out of the crease, India’s lone late warrior that night, Dhoni, the czar,

“In Sydney, the Indian batting became a chutney!” – this, the creative critics did roar,

It’s true all human heroes will at some point disappoint us: they are all hit by the sin tar,

That’s why we need to come in repentance and faith to the Christ, whom the Bible calls, “the bright morning star!”