"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. 'Come now, and let us reason together,' Says the LORD, 'Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool'" Isaiah 1:16-18.

Most casual golfers allow for a mulligan shot. It's not in the rules, but allowance is made for one do-over (mulligan) during a round of golf. In my less-than-stellar golf performance over the years, a mulligan has provided some generous grace following some incredibly bad tee shots.

Through repentance, God offers the ultimate mulligan shot. As we read from Isaiah, repentance is characterized by certain qualities. Water baptism is in view in the phrase, "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean." A decisive change is necessary in that we are admonished to "Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight." But it is not enough to renounce what is wrong; we must embrace the good and the right: "Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow."

John the baptizer, predecessor to Jesus, appealed to the verbally repentant to "bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Luke 3:8). Walk the repentance talk through lifestyle change.

God is the God of the do-over in that He calls us to "Come now, and let us reason together." At His bargaining table, we can exchange our blood-red guilt for the whiteness of purity, which is fully realized through Jesus.

My very amateurism golf game and my Christian life have some interesting similarities: both are characterized by some very bad shots and mistakes, but both have been helped greatly by mulligan shots, human and divine.

Every day is a new start for the follower of Christ. Through grace and forgiveness, we're offered a spiritual mulligan shot. No matter how imperfectly we lived yesterday, we start fresh today - without any penalties against us. Today is a new beginning.

How thankful we are to have a gracious Father Who invites us to sit down and reason together.Let's hear it for divine "do-overs."

Be sure to also visit http://thetruthrevolution.wordpress.com/ & https://kingdomdreamer.blogspot.com/

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