“They are not of the world any more than I am of the world. Make them holy by the true word: your word is the true word. Even as you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:16-18, ESV)
If you missed watching the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur, you missed something extraordinary.
The golf was awesome. I know that because when Bubba Watson, who knows a little something about Augusta National, greeted the champion behind the eighteenth green, he said just one word, “Awesome!” As she shook his hand, Jennifer Kupcho replied with a smile and two words, “Thank you.”
I admit to having a tear in my eye when Kupcho birdied eighteen to play her final six holes in five under par, going from trailing Maria Fassi by two to winning by four. One eagle, three birdies, two pars. But the course is easy, right? Not so much. An article I had just read by a golf statistician noted that Augusta National is one of the easiest places on Tour to three-putt while the greens are among the hardest to hit in regulation.
Coming into the event, two of the players most talked about of the 72 invited were Kupcho and Fassi. They have known each other and been friends for years, competing on the junior circuit, in national events, and in college. Kupcho is the number one ranked female amateur golfer in the world, and Fassi is the number one ranked female amateur golfer in Mexico and currently number seven in the world.
But what made this event really cool was the way Kupcho and Fassi, paired together in the final round, separated themselves from the field, fought to win with talent and grit and emotion, and still cheered for each other as they played. And they meant it.
I wonder if either one would have played as well without the other to push her to higher heights. I wonder if I would dig as deeply into Scripture and work as hard at being in a right relationship with God if I didn’t have Links Players and others around me who call me higher.
They may do that with an exemplary life, they may do it with a word here or a question there, and they may not even know they are doing it, but they are. And that is a good thing, because the world and its ways are constantly pulling on me. The verses above are part of the section where we get the saying “in the world but not of the world.”
How can I separate myself from the field—from the world? By living better, and by doing that with those who push me to be my best even as I push them to be their best. That, like those excellent players, is how we achieve separation together.
—
Lewis Greer
April 15, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
Photo by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash