And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14, NIV)
Marking your ball before starting a round of golf is essential to success. Every tour professional has a unique way of marking their ball and most of us do to. Without a unique identifier, you can end up hitting the wrong ball, which carries a severe penalty that carries forward until we recognize what we have done. This rule has derailed many good rounds of golf. It is entirely up to you to mark and play with the ball you choose. This is not a matter of luck, but a choice you make at the beginning of every round.
We believers in Jesus are also marked in a way that makes us distinctly different than those who choose to live life without God. When we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and trust in him, we become part of the family of God. We become a child of the King. God marks us and seals us by sending the Holy Spirit to live in us. We are uniquely identified as God’s child. God knows who we are and that we are his.
If you are already marked by the Holy Spirit, rest in the fact that he will get you all the way home.
As we all know, we are still capable of doing evil things even after we receive Jesus into our heart. Just because we are marked doesn’t mean we can’t go out of bounds and make wrong choices in our life. That’s where the marking makes a difference.
The mark is the seal of the Holy Spirit. When we are marked by God as one of his own, we are joined by God himself in the form of the Holy Spirit, who will be our guide and teacher in all the things that really matter. We will always fight sin in our life, but the Holy Spirit joins us in the fight. He guides, convicts, and encourages us to do right. He helps us to be pleasing to God as we make the journey from fallen sinner to redeemed saint. He is the guarantee that we will make it to the end and will gain the promised inheritance of eternal life.
If you are lost and unmarked, come to Jesus and he will claim you as his own. He has already factored in the penalty that must be paid to claim you and has decided that you are worth it. If you are already marked by the Holy Spirit, rest in the fact that he will get you all the way home. He knows the way and can find us even when we are out of bounds.
—
Linda Ballard
September 9, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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