For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. (Hebrews 4:2, NASB)
Tonight, at Christmas Eve services around the world, the challenge will be raised. Not by preachers, but by the Holy Spirit. As the story of Christ is told, the Spirit will ask in the hearts of men and women and children, “Will you take me at my word?”
Years ago I was talking golf with my brother-in-law, and I mentioned I was considering taking lessons for the first time. His response was not what I wanted to hear, but it has stuck with me over the years and I have repeated it to myself and to others many times.
To one who had never taken lessons: “We take lessons not to see an immediate, dramatic improvement in our game,” he said, “but so that we learn about the golf swing and come to some level of understanding of how we are supposed to swing the club so when we are on the course we can make needed adjustments.” Or at least try to. It seems there is a certain amount of knowledge needed about the golf swing in order to play the game to the best of our ability, and much about the swing goes against what I naturally want to do! Additionally, what I have learned over time is that to make the lessons work, I need to trust in the golf pros who are teaching me.
Living by faith is very much like that. There is a certain amount of Bible knowledge we need in order to live by faith in any given situation. If we don’t know what the Bible says about a particular issue, we can’t live by faith in that area of our lives.
Our calling is to live by faith, trusting in God’s promises. Knowing what those promises are and applying them is what enables me to experience them.When I first became a believer, for an entire year I was sure and then unsure and then sure and then unsure about whether or not I was going to live eternally. My first mentor in the faith told me to memorize (and meditate on) 1 John 5:11-12 and that problem would go away. And it did, because I was able to live by faith in that promise that those who have the Son have life; whenever a doubt would arise, I would quote those verses to myself and to the enemy and the problem was solved.
Just like I ignore things I have learned about the golf swing (and suffer the consequences), there are times when I am just not paying attention to God’s promises. Recently I was thinking about next golf season and the Links Fellowships I hope to see God create. In this, I experienced anxiety, worrying that two years of laying the groundwork here in the Boston area might not produce any fruit and that I would be too timid to do my part to make things happen. Then this verse came to mind: “No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Spending my time worrying about what is going to happen in the future is not the life of faith. That is not how the game is played.
Our calling is to live by faith, trusting in God’s promises. Knowing what those promises are and applying them is what enables me to experience them. They produce in me boldness, confidence, peace. They produce faith. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things nor seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
The life of faith is a life of taking God at his word. On Christmas Eve, on Christmas morning, on any day of the year you might pick, let the stories and the scenes and the hope of things to come take root in you.
—
Bob Kuecker
December 24, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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