“For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20, ESV)
Golf pundits love to look at records from the past and make predictions about the future, and they were all over the Ryder Cup. One big chunk of data they used was the Official World Golf Ranking.
The US team had six of the top ten in the world (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10), and Europe had four of the top ten (2, 5, 6, 8). Additionally, the lowest ranked player on the US team, Phil Mickelson, went in at number 25, while Europe had Henrik Stenson (24), Tyrell Hatton (26), Sergio Garcia (28), Ian Poulter (34), and Thorbjorn Olesen (45). Advantage USA.
The matches were played at Le Golf National in Paris, and way back in June almost half of the 51,000 daily tickets had been purchased by French fans. Advantage Europe.
When every little factor had been considered, most experts said that, on paper, the 2018 United States Ryder Cup team was better. But then, on paper, the scribes and Pharisees were better than the rag-tag group of people who followed after a rabbi named Jesus a little over 2,000 years ago.
The Pharisees were so wrapped up in their own way of thinking that they saw Jesus as their enemy, not as their savior.The problem with paper is that it doesn’t win any matches, and it can’t get you into heaven. That’s too bad for me, because I have a lot of paper, including a degree from a Bible college and an ordination certificate (I cherish that piece of paper because it was signed by both my father and my father-in-law).
If I could figure out how to take all my papers with me to The Pearly Gates, perhaps I could use them to get in. But paper isn’t the ticket, righteousness is.
Righteousness means simply a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Do you have Jesus? Then you have been given his righteousness.
You should know that the scribes and Pharisees were regarded as righteous men. They had a pretty good relationship with God, they served God, and above all they protected God and God’s law as they interpreted it. Then along came Jesus who was the Messiah the Pharisees were looking for, but most of them didn’t recognize him. They were so wrapped up in their own way of thinking that they saw Jesus as their enemy, not as their savior.
Sometimes rankings are good predictors, but not when it comes to heaven. That is about righteousness. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
Ryder Cups come and go, but heaven is forever. True righteousness—the righteousness of Christ given to you when you believe in him—will get you in.
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Lewis Greer
October 3, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.