To the angel fo the church of Ephesus write, "These things are spoken by the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks in the middle of the seven golden lampstands." Rev. 2:1.
To many people, golf is the dumbest sport ever invented. People wander all over the face of the earth, chasing a ball, only to drive it away from themselves again as soon as they find it. Yet something about the strange game seems to draw many people back again and again. One big reason, I suspect, is the fact that no matter how many times a golfer plays the same course, it is never truly the same.
Every time you play a hole, the tee is in a different place, and you approach the green from a different direction. When the ground is dry, the ball will bounce farther than when it is wet. In dry air the ball will fly farther than when it is humid. Because the grass is a quarter-inch longer than it was the day before, the ball will behave in new ways. And if the wind is in your face, a particular hole will play very differently than it would if the wind were at your back.
But that is far from the sum total of complications one can face in golf. Every golfer knows that the ball seems to have a mind of its own and goes where it wants to. The place where it lands is called the "lie." A lot of the skill involved in the game is learning how to handle the different lies, which can include soft, hard, uphill, downhill, sidehill, rough, smooth, wet, dry, or any comination of the above. Success requires adjusting one's swing to the requirements of the specific lie.
What does all this have to do with the book of Revelation? Not much, I supose, but it does illustrate a point that we noticed in one of the earlier devotionals. Jesus "adjusts His swing" to deal with the realities of each of the seven churches. He meets each of them where they are and shares with each a unique picture of Himself fitted to the exact circumstances in which they live.
If we want to make a difference in our world, we will want to become more like Jesus in the way we treat people. In the words of Paul: "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some" (1 Cor. 9:22, NIV). Just like the variety of conditions in golf, no two human beings are alike. Even more than that, no person we meet is exactly like he or she was the day before! To be a blessing to everyone we meet, we need to meet them where they are. We need to "adjust our swing" to the unique context of each encounter with others. This makes life not only a lot more complicated, but also a lot more interesting!
Lord, help me to see each person I meet today through Your eyes. Enable me to adjust my approach to each person to reflect their unique needs.
To many people, golf is the dumbest sport ever invented. People wander all over the face of the earth, chasing a ball, only to drive it away from themselves again as soon as they find it. Yet something about the strange game seems to draw many people back again and again. One big reason, I suspect, is the fact that no matter how many times a golfer plays the same course, it is never truly the same.
Every time you play a hole, the tee is in a different place, and you approach the green from a different direction. When the ground is dry, the ball will bounce farther than when it is wet. In dry air the ball will fly farther than when it is humid. Because the grass is a quarter-inch longer than it was the day before, the ball will behave in new ways. And if the wind is in your face, a particular hole will play very differently than it would if the wind were at your back.
But that is far from the sum total of complications one can face in golf. Every golfer knows that the ball seems to have a mind of its own and goes where it wants to. The place where it lands is called the "lie." A lot of the skill involved in the game is learning how to handle the different lies, which can include soft, hard, uphill, downhill, sidehill, rough, smooth, wet, dry, or any comination of the above. Success requires adjusting one's swing to the requirements of the specific lie.
What does all this have to do with the book of Revelation? Not much, I supose, but it does illustrate a point that we noticed in one of the earlier devotionals. Jesus "adjusts His swing" to deal with the realities of each of the seven churches. He meets each of them where they are and shares with each a unique picture of Himself fitted to the exact circumstances in which they live.
If we want to make a difference in our world, we will want to become more like Jesus in the way we treat people. In the words of Paul: "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some" (1 Cor. 9:22, NIV). Just like the variety of conditions in golf, no two human beings are alike. Even more than that, no person we meet is exactly like he or she was the day before! To be a blessing to everyone we meet, we need to meet them where they are. We need to "adjust our swing" to the unique context of each encounter with others. This makes life not only a lot more complicated, but also a lot more interesting!
Lord, help me to see each person I meet today through Your eyes. Enable me to adjust my approach to each person to reflect their unique needs.
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