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Thursday’s devotion (11/20/2008)
Friday, November 21, 2008
OUT OF THIS WORLD
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose
you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18, ESV)
Insider or outsider, that is the question. Good or bad, golf is one of those arenas where lines are drawn.
Do you belong to the local club or don’t you? Can you speak the language of the game or can’t you? Will the foursome of
scratch players or gamblers or execs or oldtimers let you in—or not? Society has always configured its lines of discretion and discrimination, and golf is a society all its own. Sometimes its lines are
just as plain.
Jesus spoke openly of another line; however, its boundaries are much broader. He spoke of those who are of the world
and those who are not. And His apostles followed up with similar differentiations.
Obviously, they did not mean the world as in the earth. Nor were they referring to the collection of people who occupy the earth. When Jesus spoke of “the world” in this way, He was considering what one commentary
describes as “the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ.”
It was this world, Jesus was saying, that would love its own and hate those who were not of it. And most
clearly, the followers of Jesus were not of it. Rather, they had been chosen out of this world and
brought into an entirely different kingdom.
More than that, this choice resulted in enmity between this world and the kingdom, for this world
hated Jesus. And there was no way this world can hate Jesus without hating His followers.
Does that fact disturb you? You would hardly be human if it didn’t. Our flesh is rather self-preserving, and when
hatred threatens our flesh—including our mental well-being and social standing—we recoil. It’s natural. But as our spiritual strength increases while we live in Christ, and our “natural man” is put in
its place, we long more and more to identify with Christ, even when that identity is fraught with inconvenience, unpleasantries, and even hatred.
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Jeff Hopper
November 21, 2008
Copyright 2008 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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