So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, ESV)
As I walked off the twelfth green, having just missed a makeable putt, I figured out what was wrong with my game.
I had hit some good shots coming up to that moment, but something was off and I had also hit some bad shots, including that putt. The fact that this malady had affected full swings, short game and putting (my bunker play was stellar—the only bright spot) helped me understand that it had to be something I was doing wrong on almost every kind of shot. What could that be?
The answer came quickly: I was trying to play while wearing a virtual straitjacket made out of swing mechanics. On almost every shot I was thinking about positions. Where are my hands here, where is my right elbow there? It is almost impossible, at least for me, to be working on getting body parts into particular positions and still stay loose.
As I walked to the next tee I said to my friend, Ben, “I’m playing too tight. I need to play with freedom.”
In other words, I needed to do the same thing on the golf course that I had done in my life. I was once wrapped up in “how to be the best at everything,” and although I didn’t see it, I was a slave to the prince of this world. I still did good things and parts of my life were terrific, but I knew that something was “off” and that I was not free.
In order to walk in freedom, spiritually, I needed to get away from the world’s guidance and its mechanics of how to make money, how to be popular, how to be powerful.
The primary promise of mechanics in a golf swing is more power, and I wanted that! But focusing on those mechanics was actually robbing me of power. As I relaxed and swung the club with freedom, I hit the ball much farther, and with almost no effort.
I want my life to feel that same way. I am free in the truth of Jesus, and I should live like I’m free, not like someone who is thinking about worldly ways that promise the goods but can’t deliver.
Besides, what can the ways of this world offer that is equal to freedom?
—
Lewis Greer
April 17, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.