He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:8, NIV)
Quite often in this space, we write of how golf and life cross paths, with metaphors that apply from one to the other.
Today, let’s take a different tack.
Although it was not always so in the beginning—Old Tom Morris’ exalted design at Prestwick had just 12 holes and St. Andrews’ Old Course began with 22—the standard for golf moved to 18 by the end of the 19th Century.
With that 18-hole standard, there’s always that definite end in sight. Even if we choose or have time to play just nine, we know when we’re nearing the final holes of our round. For some, this produces focus, for others anxiety. We have all suffered the disappointment of a late-round collapse and the “bring ’em back” pleasure of a closing birdie.
But life is not the same. Even in our aging, we cannot count the days. The Amplified Bible does an unnerving job of expressing this from James’ New Testament letter: “Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen in your life tomorrow. [What is secure in your life?] You are merely a vapor [like a puff of smoke or a wisp of steam from a cooking pot] that is visible for a little while and then vanishes [into thin air]” (James 4:14).
Some of you have been made painfully aware of this truth. Decades ago, when I was only a child, my parents sat me on their bed and broke the news to me that a babysitter of mine had perished in a car accident. Both children and adults may be lost in a moment.
Other times it’s harder than that. Death comes slowly, defying prognostications but stretching out the pain. Doctors and hospice workers do what they can to alleviate the suffering, but even the world’s best caretakers can’t massage a vapor.
Which is why I am so glad for the promise of 1 Corinthians 1:8. God is keeping me to my end—whenever that might be. I do not need to know how many holes I have left to play, so to speak. I just need to know that when I get there, I can count on his strength still sustaining me, and on his blamelessness being applied to me when I arrive. I can secure neither of these things for myself any more than I can count the hours I have left.
But here is the one thing I can do: stick to God as he is sticking to me. Stay close to Jesus. Let him do his ongoing, right-to-the-end work in me. That’s all any of us needs, no matter how long we have left.
—
Jeff Hopper
May 8, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.