As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” (Acts 9:3-6, NASB)
I had a note recently from a California friend—a wonderful lady who has now moved to the East Coast—saying that she had taken her first golf lesson. She was praising her pro and reporting that she had managed to get the ball airborne several times and that she really enjoyed it. I was naturally delighted at this and rejoiced at the news of a convert to the game.
Then I remembered this quote from P.G. Wodehouse, perhaps the greatest comedy writer ever: “Golf, like the measles, should be caught young, for, if postponed to riper years, the results may be serious.” But I’m sure she’ll be fine.
The very next day I played a round of golf with a new friend who was a former professional baseball player and has for several years worked as a fireman. He was saying that in a management class he was taking the instructor said it “has been scientifically proven that people do not change after the age of 19.” This fellow had become a follower of Jesus at 33, and he knew the instructor was wrong.
Conversion can happen and often does happen to thinking adults, though perhaps not conversion to golf (“What was I thinking?!”). But without question, conversion from one who does not follow Jesus to one who does can happen at any time. The New Testament, especially in the book of Acts, tells of several such conversions and in some cases tells of the ways people changed as a result.
The most notable of those may Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of Christians who was later known as Paul. The fear that he could not possibly change caused many early Christians to suspect that his conversion was not real or that he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Happily, those people’s fears were proved to be wrong and Paul had—and still has—one of the most powerful ministries of all time.
Perhaps you know an adult who needs to change. You could introduce them to golf, and it might make some positive difference in them. But if you introduce them to Jesus, whether on a golf course or over lunch, they could be changed now and forever. Tell them about your friend, the one you follow, how he has made a difference for you and how much you love him. This is not about salvation (though that result may follow) or sin (though there may be less of it); it is about a relationship with the one who can change water into wine, blindness into sight, death into life, a proud spirit into a humble one, and your friend into your brother or sister. When people get to know Jesus, change happens. At any age.
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Lewis Greer
May 21, 2014
Copyright 2014 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.