Better Than Tom's Pass

Tom Randall is my good friend. He is the chaplain for the PGA Champions Tour. The PGA Championship is being held at Canterbury this week so I was able to go up with him today and walk around. It was fun to walk around and meet some of the players. Tom has a pass that gets him just about everywhere. He can go into the clubhouse, the locker room, under the ropes to the practice putting green, and on the driving range. He walks around joking and talking with the players. It looked like a blast. I say it looked like a blast because while Tom has a pass that gets him everywhere, that pass gets me nowhere. We tried to get me into the clubhouse and the guy asked me for my pass and that was that. One time we were walking up a path from the driving range and another guy stopped me so I had to walk around another way. Anyway, it was kind of a bummer. It made me think about heaven and walking with Jesus. Jesus' pass works for me as well. Wherever he goes, I can go. Theologians call it "imputed righteousness". It is credit for every good thing that Jesus ever did. It is righteousness that flows out of him onto me. Being around someone like Tom who has a pass starts out being cool and ends up a little lonely. I must have stood outside ropes and gates for at least a couple of hours today. But Jesus is a whole different deal. "This is Joe, He is with me" and in I will go. That's what I was thinking about as I stood outside the players locker room today and now wherever you are waiting you can think about it as well.