The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (Luke 10:2)
I want to encourage you this morning because if you receive the LINKS daily devotional, you are clearly devoted to Jesus and Golf! Both pursuits are very difficult but rewarding when you get it right.
In his book “It’s Only A Game,” Jackie Burke Jr. says, “The day you stop competing is the day you start the long walk to the graveyard.” My father taught me how to compete and be tough, and I am trying to pass that on to my sons. However, I am also trying to teach them that you must balance being ultra-competitive and showing compassion to others.
I believe Jesus is ultra-competitive. You have to be when it’s life and death, right? I mean, Jesus said you are either for me or against me. That’s pretty straightforward and has a very competitive tone to it. But we can all agree that Jesus was the most compassionate person ever to walk the earth.
I need to be reminded of this daily, and I am constantly working on finding that balance in my life and golf. In this day of super competitive events like the Ryder Cup, where competition and emotions can boil over into heated exchanges among the competitors, it is so refreshing for me to see players play their hearts out to try and win a match but then shake hands, smile, and say “you played great” at the end and congratulate the winners.
I must admit that is a hard thing for me to do as a competitor, and often, as I shake hands, I’m probably thinking, “You must have played great to beat me.” Losing is hard, but if we can do it with grace and compassion, we represent our Lord and Savior in a way that will advance the Gospel message rather than hinder it.
It’s the same in our Christian walk that we must compete as hard as we can for the souls we are trying to save, but there is also a delicate balance of competing and showing compassion to our fellow man.
We cannot accept the sins of others, but in our efforts to correct one another, we should be gentle and patient in our correction. After all, we are the representatives of Jesus, so we must always strive to compete the way that he did with love and compassion.
Jackie Burke Jr. also wrote, “Golf can be intimidating, but you have to take it on. If you do that, you very soon won’t be intimidated at all. There is enough truly scary stuff going on in the world that nothing connected to golf should be.”
Speaking truth and advancing the Gospel message can be intimidating, too, but as Christians, we “have to take it on.” If we compete as hard as we can for Jesus and the gospel message, I hope that one day, at the end of my lifelong match, I can shake hands, smile, and hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That is my prayer for you too!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to compete as hard as we can for you to seek and save the lost, but give us a sensitivity that will allow us to help win souls for you and not lose them. Amen.