Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together, as some have formed the habit of doing, because we need each other! In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other onward as we anticipate that day dawning. (Hebrews 10:24-25, TPT)
Why do we fool ourselves into thinking we’re pretty good when we swing effortlessly on the range or chip fearlessly in the short game area? What about some of those shots you pull off by yourself with nothing on the line? I posit it’s easy to shine when you’re relaxed and feel no pressure, but add some eyeballs to the mix and our shortcomings show themselves quickly.
I think this is true in our spiritual walk as well. We can fall into the trap of thinking we’re doing the right things when we practice our faith alone.
Memorizing scripture? That’s a cinch when we have time on our hands and life’s not hitting us in the face, but how do you apply those verses when feeling someone else’s pain?
“Speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) can’t be done alone. How do you fare when you need to step up and correct someone? Better yet, how do you react when someone points out a blind spot?
As the author of Hebrews indicated, we need to be with others in our faith. Just like in golf, it’s good to practice on your own, but it’s in community that we sharpen our games.
I’m going to take a page out of the Bible and offer a way to touch hearts.The question then becomes, how do we do this in the current state of social distancing and self-quarantining? The Passion Translation of today’s verse gives us a good starting point: “Discover creative ways to encourage others.”
We may be limited in where we can go physically, but technology allows a multitude of ways to stay in contact. FaceTime, Google Hangouts, and Skype allow you to see faces. Phone calls let you hear voices. But I’m going to take a page out of the Bible and offer a way to touch hearts.
Let’s use this time of isolation, like Paul did, to write letters.
Just within the Links Players community, I can think of three great opportunities:
– Take the time to express appreciation for someone in your Fellowship
– Write a letter of encouragement to your Fellowship leader
– Send a thank you to Jeff Hopper, whose tireless work (and prolific writing!) ensures you receive this Daily Devotional without interruption
Those are just examples, and you can obviously come up with your own. I just encourage us to not “pull away” in these trying times, and instead think of the impact these “expressions of love” could have on a lonely heart.
Medical restrictions may force us to be alone, but we can still be together.
—
Drew Hamilton
March 23, 2020
Copyright 2020 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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