And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV)
In sports, the magic potion is momentum. Baseball announcers talk of it moving back and forth between the dugouts in a tight game. On a football field, we see a team that has been struggling to move the ball suddenly march down the field, one first down following another, until they scoot across the goal line. Momentum can make a team look unstoppable one moment and their opponent appear invincible the next.
Golf does not lack this phenomenon. Kevin Streelman notably ended the 2014 Travelers Championship with seven consecutive birdies to win the event. Streelman’s feat to capture victory is unmatched, but ten different golfers—including Mark Calcavecchia, Beth Daniel, Amy Yang, and Kevin Chappell—have all recorded nine straight birdies in competitive tour rounds. Forget all the great shots you have to hit; think of all the putts you have to make!
Momentum requires a whole lot of nothing. That is to say that the less an athlete thinks about what is happening, the more likely he or she is to keep it going. Start thinking about it and the conscious effort can’t support the run much longer.
The momentum that takes place in a believer’s heart doesn’t depend on the believer but on God.It may be hard to imagine a spiritual application to all this athletic scene-setting. Even the most dedicated of God’s people live in the real world. They get knocked off kilter, their prayer hour derailed by a sick child or their good deed diminished by a stress-inducing flat tire along the way. Whatever spiritual momentum we accumulate this morning, it is snatched away by lunchtime.
But this is what happens when we give ourselves too much credit. The momentum that takes place in a believer’s heart doesn’t depend on the believer but on God.
In writing his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul used the image of a veil to describe the state of a woman or man before they know Jesus. This veil of ignorance and unbelief, he wrote, covers their hearts. And most significantly he explained that “only in Christ is it taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:14). In the context, Paul was speaking most specifically of the Jewish people bound by the law, but his words are true for all before Jesus initiates the momentum of understanding, belief, and glorification in a person’s heart.
And there you have it, the spiritual connection. Preachers and theologians marvel at the work of God revealed in today’s verse. We—those who have Christ within us—are “being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.” Not only is this momentum sustaining the glory God has put in us, it is increasing it! God has taken over our surrendered hearts and is producing a miracle within. By his glory, his image is being evidenced within us day by day—not little by little, but more and more.
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Jeff Hopper
March 31, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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