They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:10-11, NIV)
Maybe you are one of those who like to tune in for the likes of Jamie Sadlowski and 2012 RE/MAX champion Ryan Winther, those purveyors of length off the tee. Specialists as long drivers, men like these crank up swings that would send the rest of us crawling to our chiropractors.
No doubt Sadlowski and Winther can put together some pretty good scores on the golf course, too. But here’s the deal: they’re not on tour. They don’t have the complete game necessary to compete at majors. For all we know, they’re only 50-50 from four feet out. They’d be waving backward to Guan Tianlang from 100 yards down the fairway, but the 14-year-old sensation would be looking down on them from well up the leaderboard.
That’s the deal with golf. The whole package requires driving distance, driving accuracy, towering iron shots, pinpoint wedge control, and a blazing putter. Now you’ve got a winner!
Jesus Christ, about 2,000 years removed from his life on earth, is regarded with singularity by many of our contemporaries.
Plenty are happy with his teaching. They find it grace-filled and exceedingly moral, if somewhat unattainable. But it’s a great standard to hold up as a target.
So too with the way he touched people’s lives. While we cannot miraculously heal others, perhaps, we could see Jesus’ example of compassionate care and find a pattern in that for us to follow.
There is no great error in either of those approaches—unless they leave out the wonder of Christ. That wonder goes back to the announcement of his coming via the angel to the girl from Nazareth, Mary. Her son, she was told, was to be “Immanuel,” God with us. Here was the Lord of creation taking on human form as incarnate God. His wonder would continue in his spotless life, his sacrificial death, his powerful resurrection. These are the very things that cause some to pull up in their belief, and say, “I’m not so sure. His words, yes. His works, all right. But God? I do not know that I can go there in my faith.”
There is no greater tragedy than to take Jesus in part rather than in whole. It is the error of the rich young man, who was pleased to have his present works approved by a rabbi but resistant to having new life demanded of him by the Lord.
Let us respond to the wonder of the man who is God, the King reigning on the one throne that endures.
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Jeff Hopper
April 17, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.