Devotional on Zechariah

2014 – Mesa Verde National Park, CO

God, golf, and grace
Zechariah 10: They’ll get a fresh start, as if nothing had ever happened.
I’m not a golf historian, so I may not have the story right, but I understand that in days of old a golfer who had not had the opportunity to warm up on the driving range was allowed to declare his first shot off the tee to be a “mulligan.” That meant it was going to be a practice shot and wouldn’t count. The “mulligan” morphed into an after-the-fact point of grace, first, for the opening shot only and then to any one tee shot during the round. I’ve even played golf with some folks who took however many “mulligans” they wanted. My response has always been, “You can take as many second shots as you want as long as you don’t brag about your score!” I’m reminded that out in real life we don’t get many mulligans. Once in a while we do, for instance, when the traffic cop lets us off with a warning. However, if my poor driving has resulted in a car wreck the clock can’t be turned back and there’s no mulligan for me. God’s man Zechariah has good news for Israel. The Lord’s going to give them another chance. He’s going to gather this scattered nation from all the places where it’s landed and give it a fresh start. We serve a God who graciously gives nations and individuals second chances. When I confess my sin and failure and return to the Lord, I find that he delights in forgiving me and restoring me to his family. In golf, the mulligan is just an unofficial part of a game. With God, it’s the real deal and it happens only because of his grace.
Take Away: God is the God of Second Chances.

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