I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus… (Revelation 1:9, NIV)
Golf is such a complex game that it is hard to whittle it down in explanation. When you start thinking of all the shots we mean when we say a player has “all the shots,” it adds up in a hurry!
You can’t, for instance, just have a great short game in general. You need to be good from the bunkers, nip the pitch and run, land the flop shot, stick wedges from 100 yards out to deliver birdie chances. That’s just the predictable array. You also need the creativity to design and pull off shots from ugly lies, odd stances, downwind and downgrain. Yikes!
Still, if you wanted to start simply, you would do it as many instructors have done—by reducing the game to three key elements: the driver, the wedges, and the putter. Make good with these three and you’ll go a long way to playing the whole game well.
Surprisingly, such a reduction of life can be found in Scripture as well, where the exiled apostle John recorded the prophecies we know as Revelation.
Early in this writing, John said three things are ours when we are in Christ: suffering, kingdom, and patient endurance.
First, let’s consider what he meant when he wrote that we have these things “in Jesus.” He may have meant that we have these because of Jesus. When we follow the Lord, we will suffer at the hands of those who resist the work of God. But we also inherit a kingdom and patiently endure until that kingdom is fully realized. All of these are the result of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. But being “in Jesus” also means that we gain all we need for these three aspects of life from Jesus. We walk with him, learn from him, draw strength from him—all by his Spirit dwelling in us.
In this life with Jesus, then, we anticipate suffering. This is not a typical Western expectation, where the freedom of religious practice and expression invite criticism but rarely persecution. However, in other parts of the world and through much of history, Jesus’ followers have known great trouble, even unto death. Jesus said this would happen, so we should see it (as John did) as part of our life in him.
We also live in a kingdom that spans yet is not of this world. This kingdom, Jesus said, is “among you” (Luke 17:21). But even this kingdom has been “subjected to violence” (Matthew 11:12). Kings have a habit of fighting, and the lesser kings of this world will always battle the great king who is Jesus. Expect, then, to do battle—a call to know and don the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).
Finally, engage in patient endurance. As John kept writing, he recorded seven letters to seven churches as God revealed his desires for each. Consistently they were called to endure to the end, to “overcome.” For this, they were told, they would receive reward. Whatever difficulty in the faith you are facing today, you should expect that you will need to apply persevering patience.
We live our lives more effectively when our expectations are most accurate. In Jesus, we must expect a life more magnified both in triumph and in trouble than our typical daily living. In this way what is exceptional becomes increasingly normal, and we will live the life that is really ours in Christ.
—
Jeff Hopper
October 2, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.