I have attended quite a few professional golf events. My modus operandi is to check out the layout of the course, chose which group I might want to follow, and scout out the best places to set up my collapsible stool should I decide to watch all of the golfers come through. But there is one thing that has become very apparent over the years––I have restricted access to the players.

The playing area (tee boxes,fairways, and greens) at a professional golf event is roped off, thereby providing the players space to compete with minimal fan interference. It also provides some semblance of order among the gallery, restricting where people can position themselves to get a good view.

Inside the ropes the players, their caddies, the official scorer, and referee all wander freely along the course. However, there are others––sometimes many others––who are also inside the ropes––family and friends. In other words, a person has to have a personal relationship with the player in order to be on that side of the ropes.

Unfortunately, this same reality applies to eternity in heaven. As much as we might want to gain access or grant access to others by our good deeds or wishes, we can’t. Just saying someone is now “in a better place” doesn’t make it so. Jesus said, very clearly, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

What this means, of course, is that any other claim for eternal life cannot be true. As we learn in our logic classes, contradictory premises cannot exist. Ironically, these other beliefs are willing to give Jesus “good man” or “prophet” status, yet as Christian theologian Josh McDowell states in his book More than a Carpenter, those two options are not viable. Because if Jesus claims to be God and he is not and knows it, then he is a liar. And if He isn’t but believes he is God, then he is a lunatic. However, there is that third option. He is who he claims to be––God and savior.

Once again, I hope and pray that everyone knows why they believe what they believe and that their belief is based on fact, not feeling or wishing. One’s eternity depends on it.

I do a lot of traveling. Consequently, I encounter quite a bit of road work. While I have learned to embrace the orange reflective cones that pepper the highways, there is one bit of road work safety that I really do not care for––Jersey walls.

You know what I mean. Those cement barriers placed in the median or along the shoulder of the road meant to keep us safe. For me, however, they are a little too close. I like to have the freedom to slide over the line without penalty. But with a Jersey wall right there, I feel the need to slow down or move over to middle lane and stay away from the edges.

What is even worse is when I have a Jersey wall on one side and a huge semi on the other. Now I feel very uncomfortable and hemmed in, and I find that I have to slow down or speed up to get out of this unnerving situation.

God’s laws and statutes are a lot like those Jersey walls. They are there for our protection but a lot of us don’t like the feeling they give. That feeling of being hemmed in and not being able to slide across the boundaries without penalty when we aren’t paying attention.

Then when we have God’s laws on one side and the pressing of an uncomfortable situation on the other, the only way to remedy the situation is to slow down or run ahead in order to free ourself.

God wants us to be safe. We should thank him for the boundaries He has set for us and for that uncomfortable feeling we get when we get to close to crossing them.

I recently took a cross-country trip with my parents that required six flights––three there and three back––on an airline that claimed to be #1 in arrival time.

We ended up with eight scheduled flights and an unscheduled overnight stay in Chicago. Seven of those eight flights were delayed (on average two hours each), only one of which was weather related. When I told my sister, her response was “Wow! Scary. I wonder what number 2 looks like.”

It wasn’t only scary, it was frustrating and tiring as well. Our travel time increased by a day and multiple hours. It wasn’t fun. Delays of any kind usually aren’t.

But sometimes we can see the good in a delay. Some of us can recall a near miss with an auto accident because of an unexpected delay. What started out as frustration and anger soon turned into relief and thankfulness. Likewise, how many of us have been saved from embarrassment when something or someone kept us from being able to voice our opinion.

Whenever Abraham Lincoln was angry with someone, he would write a letter to the individual, leaving nothing out. Then he would leave it in his desk, come back the next day, and tear it up. Only then would he approach the person. His self-imposed delays often saved many a regrettable word.

Unfortunately, we are just as impatient with God when answers to our prayers are delayed, and we often doubt His involvement or His love. But Lysa Terkeurst in her book Uninvited encourages us to ask ourselves three questions, and if we believe the answer is “yes” to each of these questions, then we should be willing not only to wait but also to accept whatever answer He gives us, when He chooses to give it. The three questions are . . .

Is God good?
Is God good to me?
Can I trust God to be God?

If we can answer all three of these questions in the affirmative, then we should be willing to rest both in God’s timing and His answers. But often even trusting God still doesn’t keep us from being impatient.

If it makes you feel any better, we are in good company. Even David questioned God’s timing as we see in Psalm 6:2-3 when he asks, “O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled; But You, O Lord––How long?”

True, human caused delays can be frustrating and interfere with our plans and may not always work out to our benefit. And yes, it is also hard to wait on God’s timing and answers, especially when we are watching someone suffer or are suffering ourselves. BUT we must remember that God’s delays will always work to our good and are perfectly timed, as ultimately evidenced in what many have perceived as a delay in Christ's second coming:  "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

Near the end of July, Three Square Market in Wisconsin made national (and perhaps international) headlines for allowing their employees the option to have a small chip implanted into their hand which would allow them to do any RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tasks (such as access to certain areas or paying for food at some kiosks) with just the swoosh of the hand.

For most Christians, Revelations 13:16-17 immediately jumped to mind: “It [the second beast] also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.”

Now over the centuries, many have wondered what this mark could be, and each generation had something that it could point to and say, that could be the mark. (Hitler’s marking of the Jews made some consider him the Anti-Christ). In our generation, microchip implants are catching our attention. But very few, if any, believe that what is occurring in Wisconsin is this “mark of the beast.” However, what is notable is that this new development just brings us another step toward fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

At one time (even in my lifetime) it seemed farfetched that anyone in the US would accept anything that might even smell of the mark of the beast, but a few things have changed.

First of all, though we still call ourselves a Christian nation, fewer and fewer citizens are claiming to be Christians. In fact, according to reports, though the Christian population is rising worldwide, it is declining in all developed countries. This shift means the population in the the countries where technology is being researched and developed is more accepting of these technological advances.

Secondly, microchip implants are becoming more commonplace and the reasons for receiving them more rational: convenience, safety, immediate medical data. Also, we have learned that the two most probably places for implanting them are the back of the hand and the forehead, where the skin is the thinnest.

I definitely don’t want to create a slippery slope, but as the technology develops and the reasons become more acceptable, it is not too difficult to see why implants could make their way into everyday life and perhaps eventually be used by the Anti-Christ. So our response could be very much like the frog and the water analogy. A frog will jump out of boiling water, but when placed in tepid or cool water, which is slowly brought to a boil, it won’t know it is boiling to death.

Perhaps this is why there are so many verses in the Bible reminding us to be alert and watchful, such as . . .

I Peter 5:8: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Matthew 24:44: Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

I Thessalonians 5:6: So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

It is interesting to note that these verses remind us to be alert, watchful, and ready. Not one of of them says to be afraid. Why? Because regardless of what man does, God is still in control.