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AVID GOLFER NO.1. SPIRITUAL LESSONS
by ROBIN BOSCH I am an avid golfer. Not an outstanding one by all means, but I really enjoy the game. Why do I enjoy it? Well for a few reasons. I enjoy the challenge, the exercise, and just walking in the outdoors. One of the things I do enjoy is meeting different people on the various courses. I also enjoy playing with family and friends from time to time. While playing the game I have realized a lot of the aspects of the game relate to life. They do say that the game of golf is the game of life. While playing this remarkable game I also realize that one can metaphorically speaking, compare a lot of the nuances and aspects of the game to spiritual truths. I will from time to time write them down as the Lord shows them to me. DON'T LOOK BACK. I have found that if I want to enjoy a good day on the golf course it is imperative that I keep playing the game with a positive attitude. Anyone who knows the game will agree that it has an annoying habit of keeping you humble. The moment that you think you are so good or you have the game pinned down, inevitably it kicks you in the rear end. As you play the game you will have good holes and bad ones but it is vital that when you blow out on a hole not to take the mindset with you to the next one. The reason I say this is that if you do, you will find yourself spiraling into a never ending catastrophe of bad shots and you will end up playing an awful round. It just works that way, believe me, I talk from experience. It is very important to literally put the bad hole behind you and move on. Move on with one thing on your mind, with a positive mindset that things will improve. Nine times out of ten, they do. It's really amazing. I have started rounds of golf really badly and ended up with good scores relative to my handicap. The same principle applies when you have done a par or a birdie on any given hole and done well. It is important not to allow the heady experience of success to blur your concentration for the next hole. It is also important to not get fussed and bad tempered when playing, that surely will rob you of the enjoyment of the game of golf. THE SPIRITUAL APPLICATION. How often in life I lose faith and hold onto things and experiences that are negative and debilitating. Life does have its ups and downs, but the scripture says in Phil.3:13,14 " Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Yes, life is not a game but it is important for me to live life to the rule book. As in in the game of golf and any game for that matter there are a set of rules. My rule book is the Word of God. Fortunately I have a God who has already played and kept the rules perfectly. When He came to this earth He said "it is finished." He won and beat my adversary the devil with one resounding club (excuse the pun) on the cross of Calvary. He didn't need a bag of clubs to gain this victory, only His Cross. I am to live by faith, and because of His victory I already have the victory. Because Jesus is a champion, "I am a champion". All I have to do is remain humble and dependent on His grace and ability day by day. "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor.15:57) I am not to sit down and wallow in misery and discontentment of the past but I am to press on in the hope of a better tomorrow. Paul said, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."(Rom 1:17) . "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor 3:18) I am to focus on Christ and Christ alone. The scripture says says "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (Is.26:3) Amen. I have been a believer in Christ for many years. It has only been in the last three or four years that I have received greater insight into the Grace of God. This has injected me with energy to tell others about the blessed "rest" we have in Christ. Grace is not a theology but is a Person-- Jesus. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |