Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1, NIV)
In golf there are very few sure things. We know too well the “announcer’s curse,” that remark made about a player’s streak of not missing short putts—here comes the miss! We have all seen players collapse on the last few holes in a major championship after playing incredible golf all week. And you: You likely have come to the last hole needing just a bogey to shoot the lowest round of your life and you learned quickly that the outcome is never secured until the ball rests in the cup at the eighteenth green.
In life, I too have been told to “never count your chickens before they hatch.” However, the author of Hebrews offered us a different perspective when it comes to the outcome and our faith. He (many scholars believe the writer to be Paul) understood that because of the incredible mercy and grace we have received, Jesus our Lord has already taken care of a victorious outcome for us.
So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (Hebrews 4:14-16, NLT)
So are you resting in the grace and mercy of your Savior when it comes to your outcome?
Are you trusting that he has already claimed victory over your struggles?
Because of the mercy and grace we have received, Jesus Christ our Lord has already taken care of a victorious outcome for us.When we continue to wallow in our sins, struggles, and defeat, it is not because the outcome has not already been declared or been claimed victorious for us. It is simply because we have failed to put our faith in the one who has “entered heaven” on our behalf, allowing us to “come boldly to the throne” of God.
What the author of Hebrews is telling us from his own experience of God is the same thing that Luke quoted Jesus saying about God the Father in his Gospel (Luke 11:5-13). Jesus (and assumedly Paul) wanted us to know that we as people who pray have a perfect Father; and therefore, we as believers have a secured outcome.
The great theologian J.I. Packer said, “Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.”
I think what he was saying, as well as Jesus and Paul, is that our ability to be sons and daughters is about his perfection and not ours. So it is my hope and encouragement that you will choose to believe the same thing that God is teaching me through his Word—to accept that our perfect Father has our best interest in mind in all things and that our victorious outcome is already secure.
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Josh Nelson
October 26, 2015
Copyright 2015 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.