“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33, KJV)
Originally, the I of the LINKS acrostic read: “Integrate Christ’s reign into family and vocation.” It spoke of the necessity of Jesus’ reign in all matters of life.
At some point along the way, we added integrity to the line and it now reads: “Integrate Christ’s reign and integrity into all of life.”
The addition has merit since the reign of Jesus Christ in the Links Player will result in a life of integrity. The main object of this pillar was to help the Links Player call upon Jesus to reign first as king, daily. And resist all notions to separate faith from other arenas of life, including family, vocation, and recreation. A life of integrity would be the reward.
Pinehurst #2 has been a site of historic golf events. None was much more spectacular than Payne Stewart’s one-stroke victory over Phil Mickelson in the 1999 US Open.
Twenty-one years earlier an event took place on the fifth green at Pinehurst #2 during the Hall of Fame Golf Classic that will be forever etched in my mind. Playing with Hale Irwin and Howard Twitty, Tom Kite missed a short birdie putt. As he prepared to stroke his two-foot putt into the hole the ball moved a fraction of an inch.
No one saw it move but Tom.
Immediately, he said to Hale, “The ball moved.”
Tom called a penalty on himself and lost the tournament by one shot.
Playing golf by its book of rules requires integrity. Unlike other sports, each golfer is his umpire.
Following Jesus Christ and his Book of Life also requires integrity. The true follower of Jesus not only seeks him first, but also seeks his righteousness.
Which means integration: the right thing at the right time in the right place.
We are salt.
We are light.
We do not try to be these things. God planned it so. And so we are.
We are the hands and feet of Jesus.
He must reign if his kingdom is to come and his will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
As golf requires self-officiating, so the true follower of Jesus must officiate himself on the course, at home and in his vocation.
We do this by prayer in little things or big things, calling on Jesus to reign and for his will to be accomplished wherever we may be. “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,” Jesus said, “and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10, NIV).
I need to stop, ponder: Am I demonstrating integrity in little things before my Audience of One? Is there some place I need to make an adjustment?
—
Jim Hiskey
April 3, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
OTHER DEVOTIONS IN THIS SERIES:
Behind LINKS: The Big L
Behind LINKS: The Friendly N
Behind LINKS: The Compassionate K
Behind LINKS: The Ambassadorial S