By Steve Hamm
College Hill Church of Christ 

Thank the Lord for Mulligans!

 

December 30, 2022



I like to play golf but I’m not really good at it. One of the wonderful things about golf, especially if you’re playing by yourself or with a very good friend, is that if your last shot was one of the most horrific shots you have ever played, you can take what’s called a “mulligan!”

A mulligan is attributed to a man named David Mulligan who, as the story goes, for a long list of varied reasons, was very shaken on the first tee. Mulligan, who was known to be a good golfer, hit a very bad shot off the tee, and without hesitation, placed another ball on the tee and shot again. When his playing partners asked what he was doing, he promptly said he was taking a “correction shot.” This particular move was quickly adopted around the golfing world for which I am eternally grateful because I lost count of all the mulligan I have taken after 397, 285, or was it 397, 286, I can’t remember!

The point of the mulligan is that we sometimes do things in life that we regret and would like to take a mulligan. The time is coming on January 1st where we all like to look back at the life we lived the year before and take a few mulligans and start over, to potentially better ourselves this coming new year.

God’s Word has a teaching about renewal or mulligans if you will, where things can be started over or renewed, in order to bring the focus back to serving the Lord. When Moses gave the Law of our God to the people, they needed to be reminded to serve Him better from time to time, as they had a history of falling away. Moses gave them a mulligan in Deuteronomy chapter 29 as he had the people renew the covenant before he died. A little while later, Joshua had the Lord’s people renew that same covenant, not once but twice, once in Joshua chapter 8 after their victory over Ai, and again in Joshua chapter 24 where the famous line in verse 15 says, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” The people responded in verse 18, “We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.” In 2 Chronicles 34:31, King Josiah renews the covenant of the Lord again with the people and pledges them to it. God’s people had a terrible time making good golf shots and ended up several times in the sand traps of Idol worship, for which they needed mulligans to get them out of trouble.

Today, you and I might have the same trouble, not with the idols of old, but with the idols of today, things such as technology, which capture our every free moment we have. Other idols might be with our careers, or our children’s activities, or our hobbies that fill our weekends. Whatever the case, we as a nation, need to take a mulligan and shoot for God’s flag on all 18 holes. We must put the Lord first in all of our lives as it says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

I am very proud and honored to live in Alva Oklahoma where several crosses are placed on the outskirts of town that are visible 24/7 that remind us every time we pass them to stop and take a mulligan to renew our covenant to the Lord. January 1st is fast approaching and my prayer for everyone is to renew our covenant with the Lord God Almighty, not just once a year, but every day of our lives! God bless you all!

We invite you to join us at College Hill Church of Christ, 1102 College Blvd., every Sunday morning at 10:30am for worship or follow us on Facebook at College Hill Church of Christ Alva Oklahoma as we stream our worship service every Sunday. We are a fellowship of believers that follow God’s Word and love all who worship with us!

 

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