“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’” (Matthew 20:7, NIV)
On the steady play of champion Jeongeun Lee6, we’ve moved into US Open month.
The women made their closing arguments on Sunday at the Country Club of Charleston, the qualifiers for the men’s championship grabbed the last spots yesterday, and now we gear up for Pebble Beach, two weekends from now. Brooks (again)? Tiger (remarkably)? Phil (finally)? Maybe someone completely unexpected.
But major championships are rarely about the present alone. They are steeped in history, and when tournament weeks roll around, we are presented with much of the past. We compare what is to what has been. Will Lee6 join the dominant ranks of repeat champions like Betsy King and Annika Sorenstam, or will she simply get in line with the many players whose only LPGA win came at the Women’s Open? Will Brooks Koepka become the first since Scotland’s Willie Anderson in 1903-1905 to win three times in succession?
In the spirit of digging into the past, I want to take you today to one of the most significant lessons we have carried through the past 15 years or so at Links Players. It comes from a parable of Jesus and has been taught repeatedly over our history by my ministry partner, Jeffrey Cranford.
In short, the lesson is this: “You’re hired!” In meaning, it has stirred many men and women to take of their faith and bring it to action, no matter where they are in their timeline of life.
Everything that God has taken you through to bring you to this moment, this eleventh hour, has been to prepare you for employment.This story, the Parable of the Vineyard Workers, has also given us the expression, “the eleventh hour,” which suggests that critical activity can take place even when the clock is ticking its way nearer and nearer a deadline.
And the clock is ticking. Both on your life and on the day of the Lord, when the temporal state of this world will be replaced by the eternal kingdom of God. You may be fully aware of this. You may have sung, “Take my heart and let it be/Consecrated, Lord, to thee.”
But you also be nagged by one of two questions: Is it too late for my salvation, as I have lived so long apart from God? Is it too late to serve him, for I am older now and have what feels like so little to offer?
The Parable of the Vineyard Workers has two answers for you: No and No. Everything that God has taken you through to bring you to this moment, this eleventh hour, has been to prepare you for employment. Don’t hesitate to step into salvation. Don’t hesitate to take on kingdom assignments, no matter how incidental they may seem.
You might be familiar with another story, the one where a boy standing at water’s edge on a beach of dying crabs, picks one up and throws it into the ocean. A man nearby mocks him: “Look at all these crabs. What difference will that one crab make?” The boy replies: “Well, it makes a difference for that one.”
Likewise, don’t get tripped up on all the hours that have passed, all the “lost opportunities” and “wasted years.” Take up the call of the Lord and the hour before you. You’re hired! Now go to work!
—
Jeff Hopper
June 4, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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