“He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.
If only there were someone to mediate between us,
someone to bring us together…” (Job 9:32-33, NIV)
Certainly you have played in one of those fundraising tournaments where a local pro or other accomplished golfer lingers at one tee, waiting for each foursome to arrive. Then they offer to bomb a drive or stick an iron shot to assist your group. If there’s a fee for this helpful effort, it goes straight to the charity. That’s a good deal, too. But, of course, what your group really wants is an extra push in your all-out effort to win!
Now depending on how you’re playing, you might not be able to imagine a better opportunity (other than to have this exceptional player finish your round for you). You can get out of your own way and let someone else pick up the slack.
The slack.
In spiritual terms, that is the problem.
In spiritual terms, the slack is the difference between your “perfection” and God’s holiness.
When Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru) put together the original tract called “The Four Spiritual Laws” back in 1952, they captured the slack with graphics. On one side of a chasm was “Holy God.” On the other side was “Sinful Man.” In between, in “the gulf,” was sin itself.
Without a bridge across that gulf, we find ourselves like Job. We cannot make a case with God. We must have a mediator, what Bright called “a bridge.” From the most ancient times (many experts say that Job is the oldest written piece of Scripture we have), people have recognized that they are separated from God. But only some, like Job, have been desperate for him. Only some, like Job, have cried out for a mediator.
What is wonderful for those of us who live after Christ is that we have in him that very liaison, the go-between who stands before the God who is Judge and says to him, “This one is mine. Be merciful to this one” (see 1 Timothy 2:5).
We do not have to attempt negotiations with God. Christ is there; let us call on his name and he will be our advocate. We will live and thrive because his holiness severs the slack and ties us next to God.
—
Jeff Hopper
May 8, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.