For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39, NIV)
In golf it is customary to mark our ball with something that identifies it as ours. If we hit it into the weeds and find another ball, we can’t just say it’s ours and play on. Only the ball that carries our unique mark belongs to us, and we must play with it. Of course, our golf ball can be lost and separated from us during a round of golf. Water, deep grass, a canyon or a cactus can all rob us of our original marked ball. We are forced to take out a new one, mark it again, and start over.
When we become a Christian through our acceptance of God’s plan of salvation God marks us. We become his—he lays claim to us. He writes his name on us and he puts our name in the book of life.
We than proceed to live our lives. Sometimes we find ourselves in water over our head, grass so deep we can’t see our way out, a canyon so vast we are powerless to escape, or near a cactus so prickly no one will come near us. But there is a big difference between us and a golf ball! God never declares us lost or unplayable. He finds us no matter what.
The apostle Paul wrote today’s unforgettable passage about the depth of God’s love for us. Nothing can separate us from him when we are marked by him as his own. He does not throw us away as damaged goods or leave us in disgust because we have done something that displeased him. He died to save us and when we trust in him to save us he completes the task. We are his and nothing can separate us from his great love for us. We can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
No matter what situation we find ourselves in, God is waiting to forgive us and to make us whole again. Nothing can separate us—no sin so dark, no failure so bleak, no struggle so hard—nothing.
We are marked as God’s own. Rejoice in the constancy of his love for you. When you find yourself lost and afraid, seek his face, knowing that he is there. He is waiting not to toss us in the trash bin but to clean us up and put us back into service.
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Linda Ballard
July 17, 2014
Copyright 2014 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.