No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:12, NIV)
I used to play golf for the pure love of the game, but now as I have gotten older and less competitive, I find that what I enjoy most from the game are the relationships I have formed along the way. Most of my closest and dearest friends are people I have played golf with over the course of my life. I have other friends who are dear to me from other parts of my life, but golf has been an experience that produced some of my finest friends.
Relationships are funny that way. You can play 18 holes of golf with someone and know more about their character and heart than almost anything else you could do together. I think it has something to do with the many opportunities within the round to choose one path or another. Is the player oblivious to everyone else while they are playing, or do they notice what others are experiencing? Is the score at the end of the round more important than playing the game by the rules? Do you feel better about yourself for having been around that player? Would you like to play with them again or was one round enough to know that you never want to experience that again?
The one thing the disciples knew for sure was that they really wanted to be around him. Why was that?
Relationship is what God wants from us. He wants to give us his love and then have us share it with the rest of the world. Jesus as God in human form came to the earth and developed relationships with the disciples. They witnessed his love and wisdom firsthand, even before they knew who he really was. They loved him for the kind of person he was. They were hard-headed and really didn’t get all that he tried to tell them. The one thing they knew for sure was that they really wanted to be around him. Why was that? I believe they could feel his love for them not because of who they were but in spite of it. That is the kind of love only God can give.
It was only after Jesus died and rose again that they truly understood who he was. Then he left them to return to his father in heaven. What they knew for sure now was that the relationship they had with him was worth everything to them. They would in fact go and make disciples, as they told everyone who would listen that they knew the very Son of God and that he had died and rose again to save them. They had felt his love and were willing to lay down their lives to please him.
Can we have that kind of relationship with God? We can’t see God, but we can feel his love and one day we will see Jesus in person. Until then, the Holy Spirit lives in us and we can feel God’s love for us. The pure love that Jesus showed his disciples. The kind of love that changes us and makes us want to please him. Will we be that kind of person in the world? Somebody who people want to be around because they can feel the love of God in us. That’s my goal. I fall short most of the time, but God’s loving relationship with me doesn’t end with my failure. He picks me up and sends me back out into the world to try again. He has my heart and I know his love for me. That’s enough, no matter what comes next.
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Linda Ballard
September 10, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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