Though while he lived he counted himself blessed—and men praise you when you prosper—he will join the generation of his father who will never see the light of life. (Psalms 49:18-19, NIV)
The excellences of golf include this: that there is much to be gained from the game besides the satisfaction of a good score.
Golf offers fresh air, conversational friendship, and episodic pleasures—like a long holed putt or a brilliant play—even in the midst of an otherwise horrible round.
Golf teaches us to quickly dismiss our poor efforts and make every good attempt to start again. It urges patience and cool-headedness, which are characteristics that serve us well nearly everywhere we go. And it offers us a sabbatical of sorts, two hours or four or six, with none of the usual pressures of our day (as long as we’re willing to “go old school” and leave the phone in the car!).
It’s healthy for our souls to learn how to count blessings in this way, to look beyond the material and catch what really matters.
The observations of the sons of Korah in Psalm 49 are fascinating. They see a man who grows rich, who watches “the splendor of his house increase.” But they make the straightforward declaration: none of this stuff is going with him beyond this life. “You can’t”—perhaps they were the first to say—“take it with you.”
The error of the man, as it is revealed to us in today’s verse, is that he stopped counting his blessings at the end of his measuring stick. He wanted a certain set of worldly possessions, and when he got them, he called himself blessed. To his ultimate detriment, he did not take the time to look past his own definition of blessing and see what God might offer. Part of the trouble, of course, is found right in the text: Others praise us when we prosper. Their affirmations confirm our own thinking that this—whatever we have determined this to be—is all I need.
In the flow of eternity, we cannot afford such a mistake. We must find God’s fullest blessings and pursue these. Forgiveness and salvation through his Son take the lead here. Our soul is satisfied only when we have found these blessings through repentance and belief. In their wake, we gain blessings of freedom and peace, of joy and wonder, of true friendship and Spirit-gifting, of mercy and fulfillment.
God’s blessings abound! The trick is to never stop short of attaining them.
—
Jeff Hopper
August 20, 2012
Copyright 2012 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.