But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3, NASB)
I have heard my father, Larry Nelson, tell a funny story of the first time his father ever watched him play in a professional golf tournament. His dad had never played or even watched golf before, but he rode with my parents to watch him play in the Atlanta Classic near their hometown during his rookie year on the PGA Tour. My dad played terrible that day and missed the cut by several shots.
Only a few minutes into the ride back home, my grandfather leaned forward from the backseat and said, “Larry, I don’t know much about this game, but if I were you I would try to hit a little closer to where they put those flags in the ground.” My dad says that might have been the best advice he ever got.
One time when the great Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros was being interviewed, he was asked about his mental approach to the game. He replied in broken English, “Well, I just hit the ball and go find it. Then I hit the ball and find it and keep hitting the ball until it goes in the hole.” His simplistic approach to the game only resulted in winning 90 professional tournaments around the world, including five major championships.
We often make golf way too complex, but it does not have to be. We might just benefit from taking my Pa Pa’s advice or adopting Seve’s philosophy rather than getting another technical lesson or reading another golf tip article online.
As we mature in Christ, the Holy Spirit equips our inner self with greater eternal vision.
In the same way, we often make matters of our faith complicated. It is the nature of religion. The Pharisees and teachers of the law did this with Judaism, and I have seen this done much too often with Christianity. The apostle Paul worried about this happening to the body of Christ, as you can see in today’s verse. He feared that the believers and churches would get swept away by new teachings from false apostles, who would lead their minds away from “the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”
It was that simple—keep your focus on Jesus.
According to Jesus, love for God and others is the greatest command. All the Scriptures depend on it, and those two simple commandments supersede all religious practice (see Matthew 22:40 and Mark 12:33). We should probably spend more time learning how to love those around us than practicing and preaching what we call “Christianity.”
My encouragement to you today is: 1) make your golf game more simple, and 2) do not complicate the gospel of Jesus and the simplicity and purity of devotion to him.
—
Josh Nelson
August 17, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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