Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. (Ephesians 3:20, NASB)
It seems as though we all live double lives as golfers. On the positive side, there are the golfers who arrive at the course with high expectations to play the best golf they are capable of playing. The ball actually goes where they want it to go, they get out of trouble when necessary, their approach shots land on the green, and they always two putt. Piece of cake. It is a simple game, really. These golfers are steady, confident, and focused, in a good mood and a pleasure to play with. They leave the course with a sense of accomplishment and maybe walk with a bit of swagger because they feel so good about themselves. They might even be the life of the party at the nineteenth hole.
Then there is the other one of us. The alternate. This golfer arrives at the course with the same high expectations of playing well, but the game is just not there that day. These are rounds—so I am told—that are a complete disaster, and the golfer never recovers from the first mistake. The first hole produces a score two or three strokes higher than normal and, from that point on, there is the burden of digging out of that bad score. Internally there is a war going on to think things through and figure out why things are not going well. Why won’t the ball go where I want it to go? Why can’t I focus? If I could put two good swings back to back, I could turn this thing around. Or it could be the clubs. (I once benched my driver for a year). The struggle can go on for the entire round and usually sticks with us after we leave the course. As my brother-in-law once told me, “I have quit this game so many times…”
When we are the first golfer, the game is easy, light, fun. Let’s play another round. When we are the second, it is a war with our clubs, the game, our minds, perhaps even our playing partners. We can’t wait for the round to be over.
When we are the first golfer, the game is easy, light, fun. Let’s play another round.In real life, Paul wrote about a similar struggle with his two natures in Romans 7. He admitted to not practicing what he would like to do and doing the very thing he hated. The good he wanted to do (vs. 19), he did not do and, instead, practiced the very evil he abhorred. Sound familiar? He could have been writing about major sins; but he could also have been writing about the more prevalent day-to-day struggle to think godly thoughts and to have a value system that aligns with God’s. It was such a part of Paul’s life that he called out, “Wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death?”
Here is one difference between golf and real life: While a bad round can stick with us for a long time and we can experience the discouragement for days, through faith we can be immediately free from the burden of those sins that so easily control us. How? Paul went on in Romans 8:1: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Now. I don’t have to wait to be perfect to feel good about myself. I don’t have to feel burdened by a glimpse of my inner self. I don’t have to do a bunch of good deeds to cover my ungodly thoughts. Because of what God has done through Christ, there is no one on this planet or in the spiritual world who can condemn us. But we must first come to him. We must be “in Christ.”
Today’s main passage is also from Paul, written to the Ephesians, and it is a promise that God can do so much more than we can imagine. He can set us free from the very things that threaten to entrap us again and again.
Believe God today. Take him at his word. What happens next will make you love him even more. He will free you from your condemning guilt.
—
Bob Kuecker
July 22, 2019
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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