Playing Mulligan Free Golf
By Chris Carpenter
Well, I finally got out to the golf course for the first time this year. Why I bothered to show up is anybody’s guess. With two of my best friends at my side I was determined to prove I had improved from last year. I figured I could only get better as I had spent much of the winter playing hole after hole on the Wii golf simulator!
My problems began on the very first tee. I stepped up to the tee box with great confidence for this was the day. I would play better golf but more importantly I would play by the rules. I say ‘play by the rules’ because I have been known to get by with a ‘wink and a nudge’.
I felt an incredible sense of virility and power as the ball left my club and climbed into the sky with little resistance. I watched in awe as the little white, dimpled, sphere arced majestically into the wild blue yonder ... and careened off a tree before bounding into the woods. I stared into the distance wanting to shout the magic M word that would make everything better but I couldn’t. If I did the entire outing would be a bust. Breaking from my temptation filled trance, I turned to find a reassuring "you will hit it better next time" shrug from one of my friends. With a sheepish grin on my face, I turned the other way to face my other friend. He returned my grin with a furrowed brow that would make even the Grinch jealous.
I couldn’t resist. "Mulligan! Mulligan! Mulligan! I will take a Mulligan."
For those of you scoring at home, a Mulligan is the chance to replay your last shot penalty free. However, it is not within the actual rules of golf.
Embarrassed by my sudden outburst, I apologized profusely to both of them, promising that it was my last Mulligan of the day and that such behavior would never happen again.
How many times in the history of mankind have we heard that one? You know what I am talking about. That moment when a person commits a sin, feels guilt and shame because of it, and then makes a promise to God that it is the last time it will ever happen.
Needless to say, the remainder of my day on the links was nothing more than an exercise in golf futility. Despite three holes of Mulligan-free golf, holes five, eight, and twelve featured waterlogged Mulligans, while numbers fourteen and seventeen showcased Mulligans of the sand variety.
Despite a desire to play a Mulligan-free round of golf, I had managed to ring up six without even realizing the error of my ways. I felt miserable, hopeless; I was at the depths of pitch and putt despair.
As Christians, our walk with the Lord is fraught with Mulligans. Despite our continuous desire to sin, God is always willing to give us a second chance free of charge. All we must do is ask for His forgiveness.
If we have sinned and feel a sense of guilt about it, we need only confront God with a confession of our sins. He will always forgive us. We must concentrate our entire being on His son Jesus Christ, who sacrificed His life on the cross for our sins.
So, what is the moral of this story? It is quite simple. God is always waiting to forgive us through His mighty grace and love. We only need to ask.
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! (Psalm 32:1-2)