In the beginning was the Word… (John 1:1)
I recently watched the 1968 Masters (I love YouTube).
Though 45 years old, Roberto De Vicenzo shot a wonderful 65. However, a 65 is not a 65 until it is written—signed and attested on a real paper scorecard with a real pencil.
Playing partner Tommy Aaron (who ironically won the Masters five years later) wrote down four on the seventeenth hole, instead of a birdie three, which poor De Vicenzo never noticed. The fictional four turned the round into a 66.
Who could have known that math would be on the final exam at the Masters? Before the tournament, De Vicenzo was no doubt busy working on his short game when he should have been working on fourth grade basics. In his non-native English, Roberto famously said, “What a stupid I am.”
This whole story reminded me of one of Jesus’ favorite phrases: “It is written.”
He fought off the temptations of Satan with “it is written.” He gave his endorsement of John the Baptist with “it is written.” He cleared the temple with “it is written.”
Indeed, on the afternoon of resurrection Sunday, Jesus was on a seven-mile walk (about the same as 18 holes) with two confused disciples. For several hours, he opened their eyes with, “Thus it is written, [for the] Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day…” (Luke 24:45-46, KJV).
De Vicenzo was no doubt busy working on his short game when he should have been working on fourth grade basics.Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, and Luke all started with reference to the idea that what is written really matters. And of course, John takes it even deeper, declaring with a capital ‘W’ that “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word was made flesh” (John 1:1,14, KJV).
Paul’s gospel of Jesus Christ included, “For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13, NLT).
All that these New Testament writers wrote was founded on what others had written. They were readers and writers both. Their reading of the Old Testament undergirded their Holy Spirit-inspired writing of the New Testament.
But what does this mean for you and me? Are we expected to be writers, too? Perhaps you are thinking, I am not a writer. Or even more, I am not a reader. Two minutes of a daily devotional is your limit. Well, the truth is that we are all “writing a letter” of a certain kind. Paul’s words to his friends in Corinth explained it well.
“Your [life] is a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize [your] good work among [us]. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ… this letter is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3:3, NLT)
Let it be so for all of us reading these words today—a letter written with the Spirit of the living God, a letter written to show that the ancient work of God is still going on in the hearts of men and women today.
—
Tim Philpot
January 19, 2021
Copyright 2021 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels