Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8, ESV)
Nowadays, it is common practice to bring two golf balls to the first tee. The second one being for the mulligan ball. While I am in favor of do-overs, I am still not in the habit of taking them. Most of the time I play my first ball, whether it’s good or bad. But on occasion I accept the gift of a free shot from my playing partners.
The beauty of grace is that it exists and lives outside the confines of the laws of the universe.Not too long ago I listened to a teaching pastor in Austin, Texas, open his sermon by telling the story of where the mulligan originated. David Bernard Mulligan, a Canadian-born amateur, had a regular foursome he played with back in the 1920s. One particular day, Mr. Mulligan hit a bad first drive and on impulse, he stooped over and put down another ball. His partners asked, “What are you doing?” He quickly responded, “I’m taking a correction shot.”
The term mulligan is one of the few sports terms believed to be named after a person that not only inhabits the playing field, but also gets used in our daily lives.
On the first tee, a mulligan turns a blind eye to the rules, leaving no consequences to our final score. A mulligan can be likened to an act of grace, a free and unmerited favor. In its raw form, God’s grace is ever and always present. Yes, we are forgiven, yet grace does not always eliminate the natural consequences that unfold from our failures.
Paul’s words to the Galatians in today’s passage—“whatever one sows, that will he also reap”—is a universal law of cause and effect. It does not include the phenomenon of grace; rather, it is limited, like the Hindu-Buddhist doctrine of karma, where the good and bad that happen to us are the result of our own actions. Some would go so far as to say that, like the law of gravity, this is an unchangeable universal function.
But grace!
The beauty of grace is that it exists and lives outside the confines of the laws of the universe. With grace, we don’t have to experience what we deserve (separation from God). Grace, both when received from God and given to others, turns a blind eye to the law of cause and effect.
When we engage with grace, we engage with the supernatural. The gift of grace does not mean we have the freedom to sow to our flesh or the world without any consequences. On the contrary, instead of believing we are entitled to anything, grace draws us to partner with Jesus in sowing “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,” for “against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22).
It is grace that saves us and grace that “leads me home.” With Christ, we walk in this life and across death’s threshold into the next, all the while sowing the grace we’ve been shown. Grace has broken the law.
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Tracy Hanson
September 28, 2017
Copyright 2017 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.