Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1, NIV)
When we start a new round of golf, it is like an unwritten story. We know some of the details, like how many holes we plan to play and where the individual holes are placed on the course. How well we will play, what troubles will come our way, and what our final score will be, remain unknown until the round is over. We know that there will be a beginning and an end, but what lies in between is a mystery.
This experience very closely parallels what our life will be like. We are born without our consent and will die one day as surely as the sun rises and sets. What lies in between is our story. Will our story be a good one with a happy ending or a sad one ending in despair?
For a follower of Jesus, the ending of the story is not in dispute. Believers in Jesus are given a sure answer about how it all ends. The end of a believer’s life is one of victory, restoration, blessing, joy, and glory. But we still must live today. How will we do that?
There is no circumstance in our life that can separate us from God’s love and protection.We are encouraged by our scripture for today to run the race that is our life with perseverance. Why this instruction? Because there are many holes between the first drive and the final putt. Life is not a short loop of holes after dinner.
We will experience many things in our lives; it would be easy to give up in despair if we didn’t know the end of our story. We can’t know at the beginning of our golf round what score we will end up with. As followers of Jesus, we can know exactly what to expect when our life is over. Because our hope is in Jesus and what he has said about us, we know that our life will end in victory, no matter what trials and tribulations we might have to go through on our way to the end.
Our story is being written every moment of every day that we are here on earth. We can get out of the bunker of despair if we know that in the end, we will obtain the victory. We can run the race of our life without fear because we know that Jesus is with us every step of the way. He walks beside us, sees ahead of us, and watches from behind us to protect us in every circumstance. There is no circumstance in our life that can separate us from his love and protection. He will see us through to the end—to the place of unending victory, complete restoration, abundant blessing, unending joy and glorious life that will never end. That’s a story that will have lots of twists and turns but ends up with a very happy ending.
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Linda Ballard
February 6, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.