A CORRECT ESTIMATION OF ONESELF

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe." (Ephesians 1:18-19, NASB)

There is an ironic old golfing lament that says, "For just once, I wish I could play my usual game." We want to say that our usual game is a certain score, but the reality is that we rarely shoot that score.

I read a book recently entitled, My Usual Game, by David Owen. It starts out like this: "I played golf when I was 12 and 13, but then I stopped. For one thing, I was terrible. For another, it was 1969. Richard Nixon played golf and Jerry Garcia didn't, and the war in Vietnam seemed not entirely un-golf related, and so forth." Kind of fun.

The game of golf presents us with infinite possibilities. On one day we are marvelous. Or, for nine holes, it was spectacular. Why can't we do that all the time? We equate our best as our usual game. What we are saying is, "For just once, I wish I could play my best all the time."

Here is some good news. Actually, it's GREAT news. God has equipped you and me to be our best. We are endowed with His living Spirit. We actually have the power of the living God present in us and able to help us at any time. We need not ask for more, but we should never settle for less.

Today's verse from Ephesians states that "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling…" That is a prayer that we should all take to heart—that the eyes of our hearts would understand that God has a calling for us. It is just unbelievable to reflect upon the fact that the Creator of the universe has a dream and a plan and a calling for us.

He doesn't just want us live up to our usual game. He desires for us to be our best and, not only that, He has equipped us to be our best. He rejoices when we accept His choice and cooperate with Him as He does mighty work through us.

And He rewards us with riches and glory beyond our comprehension. He gives us an inheritance for eternity. He even calls us His saints. The end of the verse sums it up: "…what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe."

For just once, I wish I would let God use His great power through me. That would be a great day, don't you think? If we performed to God's image of us?

The correct estimation of yourself is this: God believes in you. He has equipped you. He desires to inspire you to be better. He has high hopes for you. And, He uses hacks just like you (and me!) to do the work He has ordained. Now, let's do it!

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Randy Wolff

December 6, 2007

Copyright 2007 Links Players International

The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.