Devotional thought of the Day:

He looked carefully at the situation, wondering how to get himself out of the rough.

Only 24 feet from the pin, but lying in the rough, just to the right of the sand trap, on this next to last hole.  Four inch high grass almost hid the ball from sight, but to dig it out without hitting the ball to hard… a challenge indeed!  The practice swing through the grass with the chipper only heightened the anxiety, as the grass slowed the club head down. The second practice swing – so hard the ball would go 30 yards at least. Tension settles in, as the golfer breathes out slowly, the club head comes down, and the ball comes out of the grass, lands on the green and is slowly rolling, its line looking to be about 6 inches off the hole.

Without warning the ball breaks sharply to the left and drops in the hole!  The crowd goes wild, as the spectator reacts as if I just won the British Open.  I “saved”  bogey, and would set a new course record, breaking two over par (avg per hole!)

What a SAVE!

We often talk about saves, from the pitcher comes into in the ninth inning, bases loaded and strikes out the clean-up hitter, to the catch of the previous vase I just knocked over, to my son “saving” his artwork forever!  Think as well about all the things cluttering our garages that we save because we might just need them, or the money we “save” for the rainy day.

With all these things we “save”, some of which we get incredibly excited about for the moment, (the bogey, the baseball game) and some that will never amount to anything – the word “saved” becomes weaker and weaker and when we talk about being “saved”, does it have the same impact?

Being “saved” by Jesus is a lot more than an instant “win”, and its far more permanent than even the stuff in our garage.  I think most of us know this in our mind, when it is being thought about, but how much does it affect our lives.  I love the words some translations use instead – “RESCUE”  or “DELIVERANCE” – because they bring into it the change that occurs,

as we are transformed from being evil to being holy.

as we go from wicked to righteous,

as we go from being alone, to sharing in the glory of Gods’ presence, welcome there, our presence desired there, and brought there because of the love of Jesus!

from blind to seeing, from deaf to hearing, from death to life….we are delivered from and more importantly delivered to…

As God’s name is made holy among us, among us!  The catechism describes it this way: ” When God’s Word is taught clearly and purely, and when we live holy lives as God’s children based upon it. Help us, Heavenly Father, to do this! 

Think about it, rejoice in it, love in it, with His patient help, and care…

You are saved – and its more than saving bogey, or par, or even getting a hole in one…

It is life…