I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you by the laying on of my hands… (2 Timothy 1:6, ESV)
We’re only days away from the start of the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Do you mind if I tell you that I played there just a couple of weeks ago? Before you get too jealous, this was a course near ready for the best players in the world. The fairways were narrow and the rough was deep. Now do you feel sorry for me?
It probably doesn’t get any better when I say this was a ministry trip. Sorry about that. But what we’ve found through the years is that people who wouldn’t otherwise say, “Sure, I’d love to spend a few days with a bunch of Christians,” are willing to come along to a place like Pebble.
Many of you understand the power of a retreat like this. Getaways. Buddy trips. Whatever you call them, they provide a time and place to change the conversation from the predictable topics of work and play. One Links Player even calls golf our Trojan horse. We don’t plan to attack people, but sometimes we sneak up on them with a welcoming event like a weekend of golf.
Was the difference he was seeing and hearing from us something he needed in his own life?Our weekend at Pebble Beach was like that. We acted as brothers in Christ, praying together and talking of faith and family. This wasn’t normal for one of the guys who was with us, at least as an adult. He grew up going to church as a young boy, but as he has grown older, he has not thought much about God. From an earthly perspective, everything in his life has gone great. He hasn’t found a reason to ask about God. But this weekend, which wasn’t his first with us, started to give him a reason.
He said, “You guys always bring God up and then Jesus.” It gave him a new thing to ponder. Was the difference he was seeing and hearing from us something he needed in his own life?
Can I encourage you to build trips like this into your yearly travel plans? Take friends who aren’t sure what to make of you and your faith. During this relaxed time, you should be able to fan the flame as you’re together. Faith is a gift from God, and your friend may only have a tiny spark of it right now. But time spent with others who believe is great for us all. It fans that flame to burn bigger and brighter.
Do the same thing at home. A recent Friday study pointed to the writer’s exhortation in Hebrews to go on meeting together, so we may encourage one another as we walk with the Lord. As men and women of God, this is a calling we can’t miss: Build each other up. Fan one another’s flames. We can do this—together!
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Dereck Wong
June 11, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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