For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12, NASB)
Tuesday and Wednesday nights are special nights at our club. Tuesdays the men have a league and eat together afterwards and Wednesdays the women “Play Nine and Dine.” Almost everyone I have asked about it says they look forward to it every week, and it is, in fact, the golfing highlight of their week.
The more I thought about it, the more ecstatic I became. I became filled with an overwhelming sense of purpose and mission.But I was having my doubts last week. We moved to Boston last year to be near our daughter and our grandkids, and while starting over sounded exciting and adventurous before the move, we find ourselves with no connections, no proven relationships, no reputation to fall back onto. It can be, at times, a daunting task to believe God to create something new where there currently is nothing.
We joined this club this spring and it has been slow going getting to know people. The people are friendly, but it just takes time and I am getting anxious to get a Links Fellowship going. With anxiety comes doubts. Has God gone before me? Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing? Did I make the right decision? Am I wasting my time? Additionally, God’s Word hadn’t exactly been jumping off the page lately (see Mark 4, Parable of the Sower).
So when I woke up Tuesday morning, I was not looking forward to playing that night and having to meet more new people. Out of habit or a discipline instilled in me by my mentors, I opened my iPad to look at my automatic verse of the day. Here it is: “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7).
I had learned long ago that to get something out of God’s Word we need to think about it (Psalm 1). So I thought about that verse all the way to Home Depot that morning to buy some mulch. And I was still thinking about it when I got back into my car to drive home. The thing is, the more I thought about it, the more ecstatic I became. I became filled with an overwhelming sense of purpose and mission. God had used His Word to communicate to me that what my wife and I are doing, what we are doing together with God, in joining a club and using golf as a foundation for reaching people with the gospel (Good news/Peace/Good news of happiness/Salvation), God views as beautiful.
Seriously, all it takes to get me pumped is a word from God. That verse changed my view towards golf that night. I found myself looking forward to being there, looking forward to the mission God has for me.
Today’s passages says “the Word of God is living and active.” It is supposed to have an effect on us. It is supposed to change us. But as my friend Gerry says, “We need to be paying attention.” Pay attention today. God may want to use His Word to speak to you.
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Bob Kuecker
May 29, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.