Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1, ESV)
We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:6-7, ESV)
Many years ago, I had a young teenager approach me on the first tee and ask, “Mr. Darville, what are we playing for today?” I was caught off guard. My pride got the best of me and I responded, “Make it light on yourself, big boy!” Back then he was short, but now this 6’2” grown man is a multiple winner on the PGA Tour. If memory serves, I had him by a shot early on (like, maybe, after the first hole). In the end, he walloped me. It cost me a whopping $5 and an appropriately wounded ego.
After paying up, I asked him, “What possessed you to wager a friendly bet?” His response was, at least in hindsight, hilarious. He said, “I saw how you were hitting it on the range before we went to the tee.” After a spontaneous laugh, I quickly cautioned, “Be careful not to place bets based on how you see someone hitting it on the range. There are a lot of scoundrels out there hustling others by doing just that.” His dad recently reminded me of this story. We had a good chuckle. He also said that his son has never forgotten that warning.
Although on that morning this young man was right to trust his eyes, I am reminded that on so many other occasions it’s dangerous to do so. After all, Scripture instructs us to “walk by faith and not by sight,” and to live in the conviction of “things not seen.”
We fool ourselves every time we think money, hedonistic pleasures, or power are more desirable than faith, hope, and love.
Trusting our senses can indeed be hazardous. To illustrate, I played in the member-guest at Baltusrol some years ago. My partner and I were paired with the former club champ and his guest for a practice round. It turned out that the champ knew a college roommate of mine.
Once we made this connection, the champ proceeded to tell me about a money game at which he never lost while in college. A local car dealer would pick him up from campus, travel to various sites, bankroll the game, and partner with the then-young collegian, who was virtually unbeatable. Until one day he met up with my former roommate, who was unknown to either the car dealer or his ringer. That day the young collegian shot 66 and was bested by my old roommate, who “threw a 59 at them.” As we continued our play, I can still remember him saying something like, “To look at him, I would have never guessed he was that good.” Exactly. Relying on what our eyes tell us can be costly.
Spiritually speaking, our eyes deceive us every time sin looks attractive. We are hustled every time the world, the flesh, and the devil convince us that disobedience will be life-giving as opposed to soul-killing. And we fool ourselves every time we think money, hedonistic pleasures, or power are more desirable than faith, hope, and love. It’s easy to forget that the “world in its present form is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31) and that “moth and rust” will destroy the treasures of earth (Matthew 6:19). It’s only by keeping our eyes on the true prize (Philippians 3:14) that we can avoid the danger of “counterfeiting eternity,” instead of preparing for it.
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Dennis Darville
June 28, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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