Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3, NIV)
As we finished celebrating Father’s Day and watching another exciting U.S. Open, the stories that stuck for me were about how Steve Stricker changed his golf schedule for his family and Phil Mickelson went back to San Diego for his daughter Amanda’s eighth grade graduation.
We were reminded that Payne Stewart had consoled Mickelson after Lefty’s first runner-up finish in 1999 by telling the younger man, “You’re going to love being a father!” Amanda was born the next day. Sure enough, Phil is enjoying being a father and showed that making the extra effort to attend her graduation with the Open so far from home.
It would have been a “perfect ending” had Phil won, but seeing Justin Rose make the last putt and point towards the heavens to acknowledge his dad up there was a great sight, too. He explained his acknowledgement to the media like this: “A lot of us come from great men and we have the responsibility to show our children what great men can be… I had to look to the heavens and think my old dad Ken had something to do with it.”
As we look at today’s passage in Ephesians, some of us might not have had a relationship with our earthly father as Justin had with his. We may not see in our dad the kind of father that Phil and Payne have been to their children. But the best Father ever is Father to us all.
Our heavenly Father is the perfect dad. He loves us unconditionally. He keeps his promises. He blesses us.
The Bible tells us that what also makes God a good father is that he disciplines us and grows us up, from childish little ones in the faith to mature believers. Many Links Players over the years have told me that without God, they don’t know how they could have survived the difficulties they’ve faced. As they look back, those trials helped them develop their faith in Christ.
Recently, a few of us Links Players visited a golf member at our club. He is God’s child and he knows it. When we visited him, he admitted that his body is failing and he is ready to go home to be with the Lord. I loved his excitement for the days ahead with our Father in heaven!
If you can praise God for an earthly father who has done his best to honor God and reflect his love to you, then praise him for sure! But know that every imperfection you’ve ever seen in your father is met by the greatness of God, who is your everlasting Father. For this, you can praise him so much more!
—
Dereck Wong
June 19, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.