Take The Mulligan

Before I sit to write I go over in my mind what I want to say, and believe me, sometimes the original idea is completely gone from the scene by the time I actually start putting my thoughts on paper. I take a “mulligan” so to speak. Now that’s a word popping up in the oddest places lately. “Mulligan” has been a golfing phrase for some time. It’s sort of an unwritten amateur gentleman’s agreement that one mulligan may be taken during a round of play for an exceptionally poor shot. A mulligan is a “do-over”, or a “freebee”. The mulligan gave forgiveness for, and replaced the poor shot. Look it up in a dictionary, and you won’t find it. Its origin is a mystery, but the most popular is this. A well known saloon keeper named Mulligan, used to place a bottle of whiskey on the bar every day, accessible to his patrons on the honor system that they might take one free drink during their visit. Hence, the freebee was on Mulligan and the bottle became known as “the mulligan”. Somehow the mulligan made it to the fairway and is becoming an expression of forgiveness and “second chance” everywhere.
A grandmother was surprised by her seven-year-old grandson one morning when he brought her a cup of coffee he had just made. While watching her with a big smile of accomplishment on his face, she drank what was without a doubt the worst cup of coffee in her life. When she got to the bottom, there were three little green toy soldiers in the cup. She asked, “Honey, what are these army men doing in my coffee?” Her grandson said, “Grandma, it says on TV, ‘The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup.’”
Another grandma sat next to her daughter as her three-year-old grandson opened his birthday present. He squealed with delight when he discovered the water pistol and headed for the nearest sink for a fill-up. The mother turned to grandma and said, “I’m surprised at you! Don’t you remember how we used to drive you nearly crazy with water guns?” Grandma looked at her daughter and replied with a big grin, “YES!”
[1 John 1: 9] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You can’t take a mulligan until you first admit you’ve done something really poorly and you need to do it over again. God does not grant mulligan’s to those who are not out there playing the course on the straight and narrow fairway. Praise the Lord, God made “mulligan’s” a part of Christianity! Jesus was asked, in the law which of the commandments was the greatest. He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22: 36-39) How many times has it been you felt you deserved a second chance, but were willing to bet your neighbor didn’t? Peter asked Jesus, “How many “mulligan’s” should I give to my brother that sins against me?” Jesus told him, “…seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18: 21-35) In other words, if the one who sins against you, comes to you asking for forgiveness, give him a mulligan. God’s word teaches me to forgive my neighbor in the same way He forgives me of my confessed sins. God’s grace is overflowing with mulligan’s. If God granted only one mulligan for each life, nobody would enter heaven. The greatest mulligan of all? When we’re finished the game in this mortal sinful world, we get to live an eternal, sinless life.