At the tender age of 5 years old, Cubs outfielder Matt Murton came to the realization that without Christ there is no eternal life. "I understood that I'm a sinner and that I can't do this on my own. I realized the gifts that He's given me and decided I needed to let Him into my life," says the now 24-year-old Murton. So what did he do? What every other 5-year-old would do, of course. Murton crawled under the kitchen table, and with his mom's assistance prayed a prayer accepting Christ into his life. "Probably 20 times after that I asked Him into my life as well. Around the age of 13 I rededicated myself when I had come to a better understanding.”

Since then, Murton has left God in control of everything. "It's been amazing how He's worked in my life already, just to this point. He's made it apparent that we're obviously not the ones calling the shots, but He is in control and we've just got to follow his lead." Murton has followed God's lead all the way to a spot in the Major Leagues. He uses the game of baseball to show how God's made him aware of who's in control.

Growing up in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Murton attended Westminster Academy, where his dad coached football. Westminster was known for having a great baseball program that he was looking forward to playing in. As it turned out, his family moved to Georgia when Matt was 14, which left him thinking, "I'm leaving a good baseball situation down in Florida and a good chance to grow athletically." Fortunately, when he was sixteen, Murton got hooked up with the East Cobb baseball program in Georgia where he spent three summers playing before moving on to play at Georgia Tech.

During his first semester at Georgia Tech, Murton was hoping his performance would land him a spot in the Cape Cod League for the next summer because it was the better of the three summer leagues to play in at the time. He didn't end up making it. His choice now was to either play in the Carolinas or northern Ohio. Having family in northern Ohio, Murton opted to play there. "God blessed me during my freshman season and I wound up as a Freshman All-American and I still had to go to this league in northern Ohio. As it happens, some of the guys who were supposed to get drafted weren't and they were going to come back and play, so I wasn't going to get much playing time.”

Murton thought to himself, "What's going on? I don't understand. I had a good year, I end up in northern Ohio and I'm not even getting a chance to play." But God had a plan. After making a phone call to Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall, Murton was suddenly right where he wanted to be - in the Cape Cod League. Not only did he get into the league, but his team won the championship later that summer. "It was just God. I chose to go to northern Ohio. He knew that had I gone to any of those Carolina teams, I probably would have played and never had a chance to go to the Cape (Cod League)." The next summer Murton returned to the league as a veteran and took home MVP honors.

Matt knows who's responsible for paving the road that has led him from that 5-year-old accepting Christ under his kitchen table to the Major League ballplayer he is today. "Everything that's happened to me, He's had His hand in it. He puts you through things, and they happen for a reason. In the end, you can look back on it and say He obviously knows what He's doing.”

Murton's player file


photos courtesy of Stephen Green