Man goes out to work, and to his labor until evening. (Psalm 104:23, ESV)
I have been reminded more than once of our greater purpose in recent days.
There was the interview I did last week with the LPGA’s Amelia Lewis in preparation for our 2017 magazine. The 25-year-old told me that one of the tricky things for her to remember is that God is more important than golf—which isn’t always easy to do when you’re missing putts and cuts too.
Then I received Randy Wolff’s devotion, which you likely read yesterday. Randy spoke of the way God builds dream for each of us, those who are his workmanship and who do his work. When we have a sense of the calling he has for us, life jumps to the next level.
But here’s what is also true: this is not necessarily as grand as it sounds.
We’re a radically different people, yes, but this does not make us weird.Among pastoral writers in recent years, a genre we might call radical has been birthed. As a matter of fact, one of the early entries striking at this theme was written by David Platt and is titled—you guessed it—Radical. But not so long after this trend got going, seminary professor Michael Horton wrote his rebuttal of sorts. It is called Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World. The battle, to a measure, was joined.
And here’s where it may best end. Without question, the philosophy of the one who determinedly follows Jesus is radical. To love your enemy—that is radical. To go another mile, turn the other cheek, give to those who ask, disdain personal recognition for holy pursuits, abandon worry to instead trust in God for everything we need, to follow a narrow road—these are not only hallmarks of Jesus’ words on the wind but the lofty instructions his people hear and obey. But what is also quite certain is that this kind of philosophy is lived out by normal people in common situations. Jesus’ words have application in households and marketplaces and maybe even in golf clubs. We’re a radically different people, yes, but this does not make us weird.
In the Psalm 104, the psalmist unleashed a kaleidoscope of pictures, featuring many aspects of creation, from the heavens to the waters to the rises and falls of the earth. The trees tower, but not so tall as the birds in flight above them. We see the beasts of the field and of the wild and hear the roar of the lion.
And then we come to man—who goes to his day’s work, filling the day with his labor. Nothing radical about that, but exactly what God designed him to do, just as he designed all the other aspects of creation for their habitats and activities.
Your life has a higher purpose indeed. But that purpose will be played out today right where God has placed you. Your steps may look ordinary enough, but if you take each one with the Maker in mind, they will cry out his name and bring him glory.
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Jeff Hopper
December 6, 2016
Copyright 2016 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.