It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect. (Psalm 18:32, NKJV)
My golf game completely baffles me some days. I can play pretty well until something unfortunate happens, which distracts me from what I am trying to think about that day (you know—the proverbial swing thought). Then I revert back to my natural and not very effective swing. My golf game deteriorates into something less than perfect. I try to remind myself that golf is never a game that can be perfected—only played. It’s a lot more fun for me when I relax and accept the fact that I can’t hit every shot perfectly, and that thought usually sets me back on a course for more success.
I believe this is also how we are to live our lives. We humans are incapable of perfection, no matter how hard we try. Yet we are told to be perfect (Matthew 5:48) as our heavenly Father is perfect. How can God expect us to do something we can’t do?
I believe the answer to that question is found in today’s verse. God himself arms us with strength and makes us perfect. We can be perfect when we allow God to control our life.
Just as we know that we will never be a perfect golfer, we know that we are imperfect sinful human beings. We can’t get it right on our own. Fortunately for us God has made a way. Jesus died on the cross bearing the consequences of our sinful lives, rose again, and now intercedes for us with God, whose standard is for us to be perfect. Jesus stands between us and God’s perfect standard. His sacrifice allows us to access God as if we had never sinned. We are perfected through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
When we accept Jesus’ own claim that he was indeed the Son of God and that his death and resurrection are the path back to God, we become perfect before our Father in heaven. We are not perfect and we will continue to sin, but he sees us through the prism of Jesus’ sacrifice. Our sins are forgiven—past, present, and future.
How then should we live? Boldly, fearlessly, humbly, acknowledging our imperfection, accepting his perfection as our own. We cannot get to God except through Jesus, who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life—no man can come to the Father except through me.”
Here it is in a nutshell. We are called by our Creator to be perfect. We can’t be perfect in our own ability, but if we accept Jesus’ claim on our life He makes us perfect before God. That is the beginning of the greatest adventure any of us can imagine. Our journey back to God begins the moment we accept Jesus as our Savior. We won’t live our lives perfectly any more than we will hit every shot on the golf course perfectly. But his life, which resides in us, will guide us and give us a life full of joy and peace.
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Linda Ballard
May 20, 2014
Copyright 2014 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.