Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?” (Mark 12:24, NIV)
Rarely—that’s right, rarely—is “looking up” the cause of a topped golf ball.
To top a golf ball and sending it worm-burning across the grass does require a bottoming out in the wrong place. The club comes up too early (or never gets down far enough) and ugly happens. But the cause is almost never looking up. This would be unnatural. Who looks away from the very thing they are trying to hit?
Rather, a club flipped with the hands too early might send a ball skirting along the ground. Or sliding hips pull the clubhead through the middle of the ball, not allowing the downward motion that sends the ball upward with the club’s designed loft. Oh yes, we can get very technical about this. But in the end, what you need to know is if your 22-handicap golf buddy tells you to “keep your head down,” you can dismiss his tip and go get a real lesson. In fact, SwingFix instructor Bernard Sheridan says, “‘Keep your head down’ is the main reason I have a job.”
So let’s get to the point: when it comes to golf, a whole lot of people have no idea what they’re talking about.
Sadly, the same thing is true with a whole lot of religious folks—even those who seem to have it all together.
When Jesus spoke with the Sadducees and teachers of his time, he exposed the root of so many of their misunderstandings about how to live in the sight of God. They did not know God’s Word. And they did not know God’s power.
Notably, the Sadducees did not believe that a person could be resurrected from the dead. This life is, then “we go the way of all men,” into the earth never to return and never to join the presence of God. Jesus dismissed this belief as wholly unscriptural. Evidence of physical resurrection could be found easily enough in the pages of the Old Testament (the risen sons of the widow at Zarephath and the Shunammite woman, as well as the fallen soldier whose life was restored when he came into contact with Elisha’s bones). But the Sadducees were not versed in the Scriptures; they did not see God’s power unveiled there.
It is vital even now that we know God’s Word. It will not fully keep us from all error, for our sinning hearts will turn us from God whenever they can. But in knowing Scripture, we will increasingly come to know God–and what we learn of him there will allow us to rely on his love in forgiving even our willful sins and his power to save us from their deadly intentions and turn us toward righteousness: “You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (Nehemiah 9:17).
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Jeff Hopper
August 26, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.