Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17, NIV)
One of the more frustrating things about playing golf, at least for me, is the inconsistency of my game from round to round. Sometimes I play well for several rounds in a row, but eventually I face a day when nothing works right. I long for a more repeatable swing that could be counted every day.
The scripture verse today speaks of our unchanging God. He never changes and is the most consistent truth of our existence. He does what he says and all of his actions are consistent with his character. He does not deviate from his plan for us and we can count on the certainty of every promise and prediction he has made. We never have to wonder where he stands on any issue. He has made it abundantly clear what his plan is and what he expects of us.
What a blessing to know that our God is the bedrock foundation that we can anchor our life to. Our golf swing may be inconsistent, but God is unchanging and can be counted on with absolute certainty. Even greater than God’s unchanging character is the quality of that character. God created us and loves us. How different our life might be if he were only a God of justice! We would have no place to hide and would live our short life in mortal fear of his wrath without hope for the future.
God is a planner. He has worked out everything in advance for us. Every good and perfect gift comes down to us from heaven directly from him. We need only to receive them with a grateful heart. He grants us salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. We can’t earn that. We can only accept it as God’s greatest gift to us. God gives us peace that passes all understanding. We receive that when we seek to obey his purposes in our life. God gives us freedom to live our life without the weight of sin on our heart. He cleans us up and frees us from guilt. We need only confess those sins to him and he remembers them no more. God grants us the gift of eternal life to be spent with him. His purpose for us is to have us in his presence forever and to enjoy permanent and intimate relationship with him. If we seek after him we can and will come to know who he is. We will behold him in all of his glory.
We can try to live without him but will not receive these gifts from him without acknowledging that we are powerless without his presence in our life. A life without him will be characterized by unrest and inconsistency. It will involve an illusion of control but will result in anxiety, fear and ultimately a death with no hope for the future. God loves us and has a great plan for us. He stands and waits for us to acknowledge him and accept all the good and perfect gifts he has for us.
—
Linda Ballard
May 7, 2015
Copyright 2015 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.