Daily Devotional For February 1, 2025
To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, “These things are spoken by the One who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the One who walks in the middle of the seven golden lampstands. Rev 2:1.
To many people golf is the dumbest game there is. People wander all over the face of the earth, chasing a ball, only to drive it away from themselves again as soon as they find it. Yet something about this strange game seems to draw many people back, over and over again. One big reason, I suspect, is the fact that no matter how many times a golfer plays the same course, it is never truly the same.
Every time you play a hole, the tee is in a different place, and your approach to the green is from a different direction. When the ground is dry the ball will bounce further than when it is wet. When the air is dry, the ball will fly further than when the air is humid. If the grass is a quarter-inch longer than it was the day before, everything will play differently. If the wind is in your face, a particular hole will play very differently than it would if the wind were at your back.
But that is far from the sum total of complications one can face in golf. Every golfer knows that the ball seems to have a mind of its own and goes where it wants to go. The place where it lands is called the “lie.” A lot of the skill in playing the game is learning how to handle the different lies which can include soft, hard, uphill, downhill, sidehill, rough, smooth, wet, dry or any combination of the above. Success requires adjusting one’s swing to the requirements of the “lie.”
What does all this have to do with the book of Revelation? Not much, I suppose, but it does illustrate a point that we noticed in one of the earlier devotionals. Jesus “adjusts His swing” to deal with the realities of each of the seven churches. He meets each of them where they are. He shares with each a unique picture of Himself that is fitted to the exact circumstances in which they live.
If we want to make a difference in our world we will want to become more like Jesus in the way we treat people. In the words of Paul, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Cor 9:22, NIV) Just like the variety of conditions in golf, no two human beings are alike. No person we meet is exactly like he or she was the day before! To be a blessing to everyone we meet we need to meet them where they are. We need to “adjust our swing” to meet the unique context of each encounter with others. While this makes life a lot more complicated, it is also a lot more interesting!
Lord, help me to see each person I meet today through Your eyes. Help me to adjust my approach to each person to reflect their unique needs.