All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. (Romans 3:23, CEV)
Recently, in the final round of the Valspar Championship, Sam Burns and Keegan Bradley stood on the thirteenth tee tied at 17 under par. After Burns safely navigated the treacherous water that fronts the green on the 182-yard par-3, Bradley stepped up to the tee with an 8-iron. Unfortunately, he did not have enough club and failed to carry the water. His double bogey washed away his chances to win the tournament.
Three hours later and some 980 miles away in a PGA Tour Champions event, John Daly stood in the middle of the fairway of the eighteenth hole at The Woodlands. He was tied for the lead as prepared to hit his second shot over the lake that was bordering the front of the green. His 9-iron came up just short of dry land. His miscue allowed Mike Weir, who was playing in the final group behind him, to win his first Champions event.
Both Bradley and Daly, established professionals, did not get the luxury of hitting a mulligan. They had to live with the consequences of coming up short.
Just as those blackboards were clean and fresh for the next day, if we repent and confess our sins daily, they are erased through Jesus’ blood.
In his letters, the apostle Paul emphasized the universal truth that we, as sinners, constantly come up short and fail to meet the high standards that God has set for us. In our daily lives, unlike those occasions when our golf shots come up short on the course, we have the opportunity to avoid a penalty each time we “come up short.” In 1 John we find relief for our sinful nature: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NIV). To borrow golf’s lingo, we get, without penalty, a “mulligan.”
When I think about this encouraging promise, I have vivid memories of my middle school days when we would help our teachers clean the blackboards in their rooms after school. My math teacher’s blackboard at the end of class was covered in yellow chalk with numbers, formulas, equations, and all kinds of notations. By the time I was done erasing and wiping down the blackboard, it was clean, clear, and ready for the next day’s use. Just as those blackboards were clean and fresh for the next day, if we repent and confess our sins daily, they are erased through Jesus’ blood on the cross and we get to start each day anew.
As believers, the daily mulligan God grants to us is a wonderful example of his grace that ought to motivate us to continue working to reduce the sin in our lives and spur us on as we attempt to be more like Jesus each day. God is indeed great!
—
Mark “Ole” Olson
May 31, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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