No Mulligan

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to golf. I know it is not really heaven on earth but put me on a golf course on a beautiful summer day in Maine with my sons and that is my idea of heaven on earth! 

Now the rule in golf is that you play the ball where you find it, be it in a great spot on the fairway, in the rough, or in the woods (assuming you can find it). If it is impossible to hit the shot, then you must add a one stroke penalty to your score, then you can move the ball to a place from which you can hit it, again within the rules.  

Sometimes, players agree before playing a round that if you hit a bad shot you get one mulligan per nine holes (a chance to hit the ball again without the penalty added). This practice may improve a player’s score for the round, but it is not a true score. The purist in the golfing world disdains mulligans. They do not belong in a true golfer’s vocabulary. 

Expecting to get a mulligan in golf is one thing, however, some men believe that if they get it wrong in this life, they will get a mulligan, a do-over, in the next life. Some people believe in re-incarnation. That, if you live a good life you come back as a higher class of people, if you do not live a good life you come back as a lower class of people or life form. 

Scripture is very clear, however, that these beliefs are not true! Hebrews 9:27 states, “It is appointed unto man to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Men, you will not get a mulligan after you die! The decision we make in this life, to believe in Jesus Christ or not, seals forever our destiny in the next life.  

Men, please make sure you make the right decision. To receive Christ is eternal life; to reject Christ is eternal death. There isn’t any middle ground. Choose life! 

Mike Whitney