Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4, NASB)
Justin loved to play golf. After starting at the age of 10, he was now a high school senior and looking forward to his final year on the golf team. He was one of the better players in North Carolina, and he still held out hope to play at NC, Duke or Wake Forest.
Justin loved hitting the demos at his local golf course, and he was dying to have a new set of TaylorMade P770 irons. His parents knew he wanted clubs, and his birthday was coming up next week.
We have more than a note on the fridge from Jesus. The Bible is full of promises from him.During his lunch hour that Friday, Justin’s dad worked out an arrangement with the local club professional to buy the irons. But Justin’s parents were hurrying to leave town for a friend’s daughter’s wedding, and since Justin was at school they didn’t have time to tell him the good news. They left Justin a note on the refrigerator, telling him the irons were bought and paid for. All he had to do was to go see the pro, and the clubs would be his.
That afternoon, Justin came home from school, saw the note on the fridge, and thought it was a list of chores. Not wanting interrupt his weekend plans for golf, he sidestepped the note, and missed the blessing his parents had for him.
Have you ever missed a blessing of God like this? Sure that God was giving you a responsibility you didn’t want, you slipped out the back door. Only later did you find out that what God had in mind was far better than your own ideas. If only you had bothered to look at his simple instructions.
Life in Christ does involve doing things we’re not used to doing under our own self-rule, but it’s no list of chores. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). That sounds a lot like a blessing to me!
We have more than a note on the fridge from Jesus. The Bible is full of promises from him. And the plainest instructions it gives set us up not to be just good people, but God’s people. Look: “And [Jesus] said to [the man], You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-38).
In our story, Justin really wanted the TaylorMade irons. His parents knew that and bought them for him. He was one step away from having the irons, but at least until his parents returned, he missed the blessing. Are we one step away from the many blessings God has for us? For a lot of us, the answer is yes.
(Note: The story about Justin was adapted from a Sunday school lesson taught by Russell Kelfer at the Wayside Chapel in San Antonio.)
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Bill Euler
April 24, 2017
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.