I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened… (Ephesians 1:18a, NASB 1995)
In his book Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia, David Cook tells the story of an aspiring professional golfer who, after one more disappointing finish at a qualifying event, winds up spending seven days in the middle of a small Texas town learning to change his mental approach to the game. He had experienced success at every level and wanted very badly to break through with the pros, but there was always something holding him back. He was stuck and faced a very scary truth: He was never going to become the player he wanted to be. Through a chance meeting with an old pro and his rather unorthodox teaching methods, the aspirant came to understand his need to “see it, feel it, trust it.” In short, he needed to have the “eyes of his heart enlightened” in order to play the game at a higher level.
I have always loved that phrase from Ephesians. It encapsulates so much of what it means to follow Christ—seeing life through a lens that is vastly different from before, a much more powerful lens, one that sees what is unseen. It promises better days of living in the light, with a better understanding of who God is.
Lately I have been wondering why Paul was praying that verse for the Ephesians. After some thought, I decided it comes down to this: In the name of following Christ, we can get bogged down or sidetracked in our thinking, and it prevents us from becoming more like Christ. The Corinthians had all kinds of issues due to their thinking, while seeking righteousness through the adherence of laws and traditions (something I can relate to) sidetracked the Galatians.
If I have learned one thing over the past 10 years, however, it is that God wants me to love people—all kinds of people, all created in his image.Among other things, 2020 has been a year for me to look back and evaluate my life for where I’ve gotten sidetracked. As a result of looking through a different lens, God has brought changes I could not have imagined early in my walk with him. For most of my adult believing life, love had its limits based on rules and Christian culture. Those limits were behavior-oriented and had a basis in Scripture but were devoid of real concern. The fruit of the spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—always troubled me a little because I did not see a lot of significant growth there and I could never reconcile some of them with my life. Compassion and mercy were not the driving force for me.
I am not trying to communicate I was a total mess. I was not. I was actively involved in helping others, growing in trusting God, and applying God’s word to my life; but it was easier for me to follow rules, set boundaries, and believe what others believed. It was a black and white existence. If I have learned one thing over the past 10 years, however, it is that God wants me to love people—all kinds of people, all created in his image. Loving and accepting people can be complicated. It has taken many difficult conversations with a variety of people, exposing myself to other viewpoints, and much Scripture reading using a different set of eyes to get comfortable with this.
In Matthew 22, Jesus was asked, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” He answered that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. And then he made this profound statement: “On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets.”
This Christmas, may the eyes of your heart be enlightened, that you may have a deeper understanding of what it means to love God and to love others.
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Bob Kuecker
December 23, 2020
Copyright 2020 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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