But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, NASB)
My friend Gary works hard at his golf game and is very competitive. He is getting older now and his consistency is very elusive. He once told me, “I love playing golf with everyone but myself.” We love playing with Gary, even when he goes off into one of his moments of total fog and discouragement. It is a funk that lasts only for a few moments (or until the next missed shot). As Dr. David Cook reminds us in his book Golf’s Sacred Journey, “How can a game have such an effect on a man’s soul?” Golf is simply a game. Our soul is a matter of life and death.
In saving even sinners God’s glory reaches its fullest height.I recently read a wonderful book by my favorite author, Ken Gire. Ken wrote this book with Donald Stratton, one of the five living survivors of the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago. The book is entitled All the Gallant Men. During the assault on Pearl Harbor, Stratton was burned over 65 percent of his body. He endured months of hospitalization and therapy and received an honorable medical discharge. Then, incredibly, Stratton reenlisted in the Navy and ended the war in the south Pacific.
Mr. Stratton has visited Pearl Harbor and the memorial numerous times to see the site and remember the price paid for our freedom. On one occasion, he became very emotional remembering 1,177 of his shipmates who gave their lives that day in defense of our country. As he gazed into the water at Pearl Harbor, he remembered his buddies and wondered this profound thought: “Am I worth dying for?” He then quotes from a poem carried by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt:
Dear Lord,
Lest I continue
My complacent way,
Help me to remember that somewhere,
Somehow out there
A man died for me today.
As long as there be war,
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?
Now, let our thoughts drift to our Savior. The Son of God became one of us so that we might be one with him. His sacrifice was our gift. Jesus was born to die for us. That has always been God’s plan. It is astounding to think that Jesus would say to all of us who have accepted his gift of salvation, “Yes, you are worth dying for!”
How would you answer the question, “Am I worth dying for?” We know from today’s verse that we really cannot say we are worthy; our sin has disqualified us from making that argument before a holy God.
But this same holy God is a loving God, and in order to save sinners, he considered our eternal life worth the death of his Son. What a sacrifice! What a Savior! We can now go out into the world and know that we are worth dying for in God’s eyes, for in saving even sinners his glory reaches its fullest height.
With all this in mind, I think Jesus would want us to pray this way: “Lord Jesus, because you considered me worth dying for, my life will never be the same.” Live boldly for the one who died for you. You are worth it to him; he should absolutely be worth it to you.
—
Randy Wolff
February 6, 2017
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.