Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9, ESV)
When I started my role as head coach at Florida Atlantic University, I stole a phrase from Lane Kiffin who stole the phrase originally from coach Nick Saban: rat poison. It is a few years old now but was used in the context of players believing either their own hype or criticism that comes from the media. Both coaches equated players focusing on what the media says to rat poison that essentially takes away from focusing on the process.
As a golf team, we defined “RP” in broad terms—how we should or shouldn’t do in a tournament, rankings, playing partners bemoaning weather conditions, three-putts, lipouts, bad bounces, and any other form of negativity. Others may want us to join in their pity parties filled with “RP,” but we would politely decline the invite and steer clear of drinking any “RP.”
There is only one who perfectly withstood the test of poison and evil from our enemy.No sane person willingly drinks rat poison, but what types of poison are we allowing into our lives or not saying no to? In writing this, I did a little research that mentioned rats are picky and finicky. They may only nibble at poison to see if it makes them sick or not. We may think we know poison, but it is meant to resemble to the food we normally like so that we don’t even notice it.
Our enemy the devil is known as the great deceiver. He takes something that is good and twists it just enough so that a good thing becomes a god thing (an idol), and it leads us away from true fullness of life and peace with God. It takes faithful time with the Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit to discern whether something is pushing me closer to God. I should ask, “Is this good for me to dwell on?”
It may be tempting to read our own press clippings before the tournament is done or hear accolades of how great a parent or employer or church member we are; but instead let us find security and strength in the Lord. There is only one who perfectly withstood the test of poison and evil from our enemy. My prayer and hope is that we would lean on Jesus when all is well, when we are weak, when we are vulnerable and when we need encouragement.
There are many false substitutes (success, relationships, wealth, health) that we may think will satisfy us, but often leave us wanting more than when we first started searching. Peter said it best in John 6:68-69: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
As a new day dawns, will you start off by giving the first few minutes to simply pray and ask for Jesus to capture your heart and mind? May the word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit fill your soul as you consider the joy and hope there is in Jesus. Disregard the rat poison and remember you are a redeemed person.
—
Aimee Neff
January 23, 2020
Copyright 2020 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.