This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10, NIV)
Golf is one of the purest sports a person can play. It is simple in its design. Start with a ball and a stick and a hole and see how many swings of the stick it takes to get the ball into the hole. Simple. It should be an easy game, but any of us who have played it know that it is way more complex than it seems. It is a game often played with others, but the outcome of what happens depends on the individual player’s effort, skill, and luck. In many ways it seems to parallel our life.
Our Scripture passage for today gives us a clear picture of the purpose of our life. It is also simple in design. God loves us. We love him back. That is our express purpose as human beings. It should be easy, but all of us who are trying to serve him know it seems to require much more. Does our life, as in our golf game, require effort, skill, and luck? Why do we find ourselves in situations and relationships which stress us out and diminish our joy? Why does God seem so far away at times?
Every moment of our life is important and every person we meet is an opportunity to touch them with the power of God’s redeeming love.The answers to those questions lie in the simplicity of God’s purpose for us. The first thing we must know, to the very depth of our soul, is that God’s love for us is all that we need. He loves us first and when we truly know that, and receive it, he provides us with the tools to make it through this life. There is no skill or luck necessary to serve God. There is only trust in his love for us.
God’s love for us has no limits and grows every time we allow it to flow through us to another. We bless and are blessed. We have a purpose and a plan. We receive his love and let it flow through us to everyone who crosses our path. Every moment of our life is important and every person we meet is an opportunity to touch them with the power of God’s redeeming love. A love so satisfying that we need nothing else. A purpose so pure it will engage us for all the days of our life.
The fallen world we live in provides many opportunities for us to fail and that push us to give up, but if our focus is on the power of God’s love for us, we can overcome and prevail in every circumstance. We can live through him. Life can be complex sometimes, but the point of it all is that God created us, loves us, and desperately wants us to love him back. If we can get back to these simple facts the rest of our life will fall into place. Life is never easy, but it is simple. Receive God’s love and embrace it as the power it is. Power to love others, power to get through any and all difficulties, and power to accomplish everything God has for us to do.
—
Linda Ballard
August 6, 2020
Copyright 2020 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
Image by congerdesign from Pixabay