A Golf Lesson

Titus 3:5 - not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us...

I just finished reading a great golf fiction book, The Greatest Player Who Never Lived by J. Michael Veron. If you enjoy golf, this is an interesting and quick read. You can probably read the book faster than my blog! I hope this makes sense...

Near the end of the book the two main characters meet. The younger man, who has read a lot about the older man, asks him about his success in golf. One question was: How did you learn to hit (the ball) so long? The reply was: I never tried to hit it hard. That wouldn't work. The trick is to swing through the ball to a full finish. Just let the ball get in the way. ... Most of the members I would caddy for would just lash at the ball, like they were trying to punish it. I couldn't help but notice the difference.

So where am I headed with this? I mentioned the other day that knowing Jesus is something you can't work out on your own. It's sort of like the proper way to hit a golf ball. When the opportunity to receive Him is presented to you, you just swing through to a full finish. You give in and give yourself to the Lord. He is the one who has found you and has you in His sights to become an official child of God. All you need do is respond to His invitation. Lashing is not permitted! A gentle receiving is the answer.

Working hard to hopefully receive God's approval won't accomplish anything. It's the gentle receiving of Christ that matters. Those who gently open their hearts to the sometimes hard words Jesus has to convey, those who humble themselves, those who don't think more highly of themselves so as to balk at the simplicity of receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior, will receive...and go forward in life in ways unexplainable.

We need to understand the importance of knowing the difference between religion (works) and relationship with Jesus. It simply does not have anything to do with how good we are, or the work we think is necessary. It's like letting the club do all the work, letting yourself do no more than hold the club in your hands and letting the club do all the work. Think of Jesus as that club. He did all the work for us. It's only up to us to recognize what He has done and follow through. Whacking away at works in life is meaningless and does not produce a better score in the end.

This old man gave the young man a Rules of Golf book. The young man asked: What's this for? The old man replied: If your gonna play the game, you need to know the rules...you can get into a lotta trouble playing this game. Sometimes this book'll get you out better'n any club. You better know your options... God's Word can be our rules. We need to know them to understand the options...what is expected, what is truth. I'm not trying to say that reading the book gets you out of receiving Christ! Jesus may loosely be an analogy for a golf club, but you also need to know the rules, as He set them forth.

Another quote from the book went like this: One fella said...that a putt that was short couldn't fall into the hole...I never saw one that went past the hole fall in, either. We can be just short of receiving Christ, having heard His message and not taking it seriously, or we can let it slip by thinking there's always another shot at it later. Either way, we have not "holed out." We have not received what Jesus has to offer us for that final score known as eternal life.

God's love and mercy cannot be worked for. Oh, He loves us no matter what, even if we do not respond to His call. However, He will not allow one person into heaven without that relationship. The relationship seals the deal. Without the relationship, we are in a continual state of sin...and He abhors it and cannot be in it's presence. If you sense His calling, don't try so hard to ignore it. Another quote from the book states: We can't win if we don't play! There you have it. We can't win if we do not have Jesus Christ.

There were other lines in this book I could have used, but it was the second last sentence I decided to end with. The young man was wrapping up his thoughts about this old man who was a great champion although he was unknown (you'll have to read the book for the "why"). The old man lived a good life by taking a bogey circumstance in his life and answering it with a birdie...to even the score. His thought was: Some would say he finished with a course record.

Well, we can take our bogey circumstances without Christ and even the score by birdying with Christ's help! And we can finish with a course record. Take the opportunity today to meet Jesus, listen to His words, receive Him, read His Rule Book to know what is expected that we might know our eternal life is secure.

2Timothy 1:9 - who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began...