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Monday’s devotion (2/8/2010)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
TRAPPINGS ASIDE
“Do not take any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra
tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.” (Matthew 10:9-10, NIV)
Golfers can carry a lot of trappings, those little “extras” that add style more than substance.
The shape, color or size of your golf bag, for instance, has little to do with what you end up writing on
your scorecard. The functionality of your headcovers won’t improve your swing. The design on your divot repair tool won’t help you make more putts—and, sorry to say, neither
will the lucky ball marker you use on the greens. Whether your push cart drives itself won’t help you get out of the bunker. And if your shoes still have those funky little flaps over
the laces, don’t fret—they won’t cost you one yard off your next drive.
You see, trappings have nothing to do with renderings. In fact, a better word than “extras” is
probably “throwaways.” So much of what we carry around the course with us means nothing to the score we post.
Now without a lot of explanation, I hope that you can see where we are headed with this. Our lives are
cluttered with trappings, too. They have so little to contribute to the rendering of the work that God has given us to do, yet we often hold on to them, cherish them, enlarge them. We give
them importance they don’t deserve.
When we step back and observe this actually happening to us—when we take inventory of what’s in
our house, our garage, our car, our office and see that there is so much we don’t need—we can find ourselves knocked sideways by two terrible things: our waste and our idolatry.
God’s economy is not always cut and dried. For one, it requires of us times of extended rest for the
purpose of setting aside our trust in our own hands and glorying instead in the wonders and work of God. Some might call this wasted time. No, not all side spending, of time or of money or of
attention, is wasted. But much is. When we purchase beauty and solitude and relaxation, our spending may be excellent. But when we buy labels and prestige and selfish comforts, our purchases
say one thing: waste. We have chased crowns that do not last.
Moreover, when we give our dollars and our days to matters and materials of empty promise, we have lost
ourselves in the pursuit of idols—lifeless forms that offer no enriching or eternal return.
If we are to render ministry to one another as God designed us to do, we do best to shed the trappings that
contribute nothing to such loving surrender. We do best to head straight for the essentials and make the best of those, counting on God to give us the things we really need.
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Jeff Hopper
February 9, 2010
Copyright 2010 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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