“For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12, NIV)
The bets were settled, and as I sat at an appropriate “social distance” after the round, I heard, “It was a clean sweep!” My partners jumped up and told me we won, and I won low net, making it a “clean sweep.”
It was the first time in several months that I had played in The Game at my golf club, The Palms. Carrying a five handicap put me into the category of a B player, and usually my $50 buy-in is a donation to the guys who play every day. This is a very competitive group of players composed of many retired pros and young guns trying to make it on tour. Conversations around the putting green usually include politics, golf, and sometimes religion.
Most of this group knows that I lead a Links Fellowship on Wednesdays, so I am often ribbed about God or being a church elder. It is interesting to hear comments like, “No wonder you won. God is on your side.” I laugh and let my friends know that God was on my side yesterday too, but my score was over 80.
As I reflected on this day and my clean sweep it occurred to me that there might be more to this. I looked into Merriam-Webster and found that clean sweep is a noun meaning:
- A victory in which one side or team wins every game, contest, etc. 2. A complete change in something.
We must let go of the lies, many of which we hold onto out of face-saving pride, and we must let Jesus do his work.
Other thoughts came to my mind about a clean sweep, including a chimney that has had years of charred wood and tar build up inside, much like the sin in our souls. Without something or someone to clean up the mess, the chimney can catch fire in the stack and could burn down the house, where it was meant to warm and provide comfort. Think about this for a minute. We have had many years of “charcoal” (sin) build up inside our souls; it needs to be swept away in order to have comfort. Years of sin or guilt builds and burns up inside with no place to let it go. Without salvation, this continuous pattern never seems to get better.
Many of our unbelieving friends still carry around the lies they believe will make them happy. They also have spiritual scar tissue from lies they were told or lived out in their past. Many of us probably have similar scars and are now helping our friends learn that they can find peace and joy with the greatest “chimney sweep” of all time, Jesus Christ.
Jesus was the ultimate example of today’s opening verse. He humbled himself to take on the sins of all mankind, providing all who “believe in their hearts and declare with their mouths that God raised Jesus from the dead” the way to be saved (Romans 10:9).
Believing and declaring this means we too must humble ourselves. We must let go of the lies, many of which we hold onto out of face-saving pride, and we must let Jesus do his work. Those who decide to do this will have a complete change in every aspect of life—clean forever in the eyes of God, experiencing the greatest victory of all time. Let’s help our friends learn about victory in Jesus, enjoying this work far more even than victories on the golf course!
—
Chris Hermann
July 28, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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