“I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.” (Ezekiel 36:23, NASB)
Unfortunately, the following story has been permanently etched in my brain since I was a teenager. I was playing in an American Junior Golf Association tournament, which is the premier junior golf circuit in the United States, and I got off to a disappointing start by shooting a 78 in the first round. After completing my round, I decided to go practice a little to work out the kinks.
Before leaving the course for the day, I walked over to the big scoreboard to check out all the scores. I happened to be standing next to a father and his son who were doing the same thing. Not knowing who was standing right beside them, the father pointed at my name and score and said, “Look, that’s Larry Nelson’s son. You’d think he would be better than that.”
In my mind all I could think was, Yeah, and I have to play with him every round.
I joke about it, but those words were hurtful. They weighed on me for many years. Would I ever live up to my father’s good name?
I felt pressure on the golf course to perform up to the expectations of my three-time major championship winning father. Can you imagine the pressure Israel felt of trying to live up to the good name of the Creator of the universe, the Lord God?
This was the charge given to Israel, and along with it they were given many laws that were strange in man’s eyes and impossible to obey. Their history throughout the Old Testament was an ebb and flow of faithfulness and rebellion, which came with blessings and punishments. Despite themselves, God always remained faithful to them.
Because God has placed his Spirit in us, we now are able to live in a way that brings him glory.
You might be thinking to yourself that God set his children up for failure, but that could not be further from the truth. From the very beginning he had a plan for their salvation and victory, all the while extending grace.
If you just read today’s verse, you might feel dejected like I did that day leaving the golf course. However, if you read on, God quickly turned the negative into a hope:
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
This prophesied plan for redemption was of course ultimately fulfilled by Jesus more than 600 years later. And to top it off, God’s plan was made available to everyone else in the world, too.
Just as Ezekiel wrote, because God has placed his Spirit in us, we now are able to live in a way that brings him glory. It is hard to believe that because of Jesus and his empowering Spirit in me that even if I fail to live up to the Nelson name, I am still living up to God’s glorious name.
I hope you are trusting the work of the Holy Spirit in your life and how proud your Heavenly Father is to call you Son or Daughter.
—
Josh Nelson
May 17, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.