Good Morning!
Luke
15:24; “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
A number of years ago, when Tiger Woods was
really in his prime, a friend of mine told me a story about his young son. The two of them were watching the U. S. Open
Golf Tournament. While Tiger Woods was
hitting the ball it went way off course and into the weeds. The young guy, in all seriousness, said,
“Tiger should use his mulligan.” His dad
laughed and told him that was only a family rule.
A mulligan, a “do-over,”
if you will, helps many “duffer” golfers.
It is a second chance when you hit a poor shot. Sometimes those playing decide you get one
per round and sometimes you get one per hole; it depends on how good the
golfers are or aren’t. There are many
times when it would be nice to have a “do-over” or a second chance. Maybe the first time you met your soon-to-be
in-laws and spilled spaghetti sauce. Or
perhaps when you went to that job interview and your pen leaked all over your
shirt. We all have some of those events
where we would like a mulligan.
There are times when we
would like a second chance but getting one can be very difficult. Perhaps a cruel word slipped from your lip
and caused some pain to a friend. Maybe
you excluded someone from your life and now you regret it. There are times and events which would be
nice to have a mulligan on, but we can’t.
The hurt is there, and the pain is real.
In our lives there are
many times when we do not get a mulligan; we get no chance at a do over. But God does give us a second chance and a
third, fourth and 1,000,000th chance. Every second of every day we get a
mulligan. When God sent Jesus to take
our place and to die on the cross for us, we got a mulligan. Actually, we got a lifetime of
mulligans. All of our sins are forgiven;
all we need to do is to trust this promise from God. We were once dead but now we are alive; we
are living our second chance. God, in
his mercy, brought us back to himself through the mystery of the Gospel, the forgiveness
of sins which we receive because of Jesus’ atonement on the cross. All that time that we spent lost in sin and
now we are found. We are renewed by
God’s grace. We are healed by his
mercy. Through it we have new life; we
have a second chance at life in God’s family.
Our life is not a golf game, in fact; it is no game at all. It is very serious business, but it is a
serious business which God has intervened and taken us back. God has given you new life, a second
chance. Take it and live that life to
the fullest extent which God gives you.
Father of all
mercies, you give us new life and give it abundantly. Through you we enjoy the newness of
life. Through you we live a life in
hope. Through you we have comfort. Guard us by your grace and give to us the
hope for tomorrow. In Jesus’ precious
name we pray, amen
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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