I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh, for I have the desire to do what is good, but I can not carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (Romans 7:18-20, Berean Study Bible)
There is a problem with handicaps that can get us unto big problems with our playing partners. I know in my group of playing partners we are always haggling about each other’s handicap. One of my friends wants to regroup after the first nine and make adjustments based on play of that nine-hole stretch.
You might see it for yourself: Even though you determine not to do what is bad, you suddenly find yourself in such circumstances that your determination melts away.Behind this is a fundamental mistrust of the USGA handicapping system, and terms like “sandbagging” start surfacing. Now, I have run into real sandbaggers, but what about those who seem to have an off day? There are others who simply rise to the occasion when all the chips are on the line.
My game is sort of a Jekyll-and-Hyde game. It can change easily and for no apparent reason. Sometimes I can be on and sometimes I can be woefully off. I do have a handicap and there are times that I play below my handicap and then there are those times when no handicap can rescue me. It is in those times I am eternally grateful for the USGA.
You could say, we are like Paul, who said in essence that there were times when he needed a handicap big-time, spiritually speaking. Paul wrote that as a Christian redeemed by the grace of God, there was now something in him that wanted to do good, that agreed with the Law, that told him the Law is right: “I want to do it.” But he also recognized something else that rose up and said, “No!”
You might see it for yourself: Even though you determine not to do what is bad, you suddenly find yourself in such circumstances that your determination melts away. Your resolve is gone and you end up doing what you said you would not do.
Paul observed that the redeemed spirit within a person never wants to do what God has prohibited. It agrees that the Law is good. But our willpower is never enough; sin will win, and we will do the evil that we swore not to do. Thankfully, we have a handicap and his name is Jesus. What we could not do, Jesus did.
We don’t have to look any further than the Sermon on the Mount. Here Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” In other words, blessed is the man who comes to the end of himself. Blessed is the man who has arrived at spiritual bankruptcy. Because at this point—only at this point—God’s help is given.
Who delivers us from the body of death? The Lord Jesus has already done it when we apply the handicap. This means I am dead to sin and dead to the Law. I now have the power to walk away from temptation and be free in Christ.
“Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:25a)
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Larry Dublanko
June 19, 2018
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.