His Salvation, Not Mine – November 3, 2026
This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.
Isaiah 25:9
His Salvation, Not Mine
I used to play golf. I wasn’t in a league or anything, but I played frequently enough over the course of the summer to feel like I could call myself a golfer. Truthfully, I wasn’t any good, but I liked to try. Even though my ball ended up more often in the woods than on the fairway, or in the pond instead of on the green, I kept playing.
Perhaps because of my poor scores, my favorite format of playing golf is undeniably the scramble. In this type of golf event, each team of four tries to compile the best score to win the tournament. To achieve this score, each golfer tees off on the hole. Then they decide which of the four shots was best, and all four hit their second shots from there. I always liked that style of play because I could use someone else’s shot when mine wasn’t good enough.
Getting to heaven is a lot like that. We try hard. We aim to stay on the straight and narrow. But frankly, our best is not good enough. Our thoughts wander into the woods of greed, lust, and pride. Our actions are often so far out of bounds that we would be embarrassed if anyone saw them. Our words often fail to be on par with what is God-pleasing.
Thankfully, there is someone else’s life we can use. If life in this sinful world is a scramble, we need someone on our team who can get it right. That someone is Jesus. He always got it right. He never let his thoughts stray into sin, and he always kept his words and actions perfectly in line with God’s Word. Believing in Jesus means we get to use his shot every time. We trust in his life and not ours. His life of perfection enabled him to present a perfect scorecard to his Father in heaven. We rejoice in his salvation because we are unable to achieve it on our own.
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, you are my perfect substitute. Thank you for all that you have done to ensure that I can be with you forever in heaven. Amen.
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
