Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:2, The Message)
I recently had the privilege of hearing Brad McCoy speak to a large gathering here in Dallas. Brad is the father of Colt McCoy, the star University of Texas quarterback drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2010.
In January 2010, Colt’s Texas Longhorns met the University of Alabama for college’s national championship. But Colt was hurt in the first quarter and could not play the rest of the game. Texas lost. After the game, Colt was asked by an ESPN reporter about the bitter disappointment. The young man’s response was awesome. He gave credit to Alabama and the Texas team and then said, “I give all the glory to God. God is my rock, and I am standing on solid ground.”
Mack Brown, the University of Texas coach once said of Colt McCoy: “I have been coaching for over 35 years, and I have never seen anyone have such an impact on a team. Colt has changed the culture of this program at Texas.”
Someone asked Brad about the current condition of the state of sports in America today. Brad responded that he thought that sports is one of the best tools to teach our young adults value, hard work, fair play, and competition. I believe that golf imparts these values even more so, that it is one of the best molders of character we can experience. Arnold Palmer said, “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening—and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.”
Let’s make sure our light is turned on, and that we are always available to be used by God to change the culture for the eternal prize, which is salvation in Christ.So what does this have to do with you and me who struggle to keep our composure in the club championship or will never have the platform of a professional athlete We may have a desire to impact our culture, but what about the opportunity?
A pastor friend of mine teaches that we are all thermostats or thermometers. We have an opportunity every day to show which we are. A thermometer reflects the temperature of the climate around us. A thermostat sets the temperature of the climate. Do we reflect or set the temperature?
Our answer will reveal whether we recognize this essential truth: without Christ, we can do nothing; with him, we can do all things. As we study God’s word and live it in our family, business, and our leisure, God has a unique way of using a simple life like ours to change the culture—if we let him.
Others are watching. God will always use men and women of integrity as thermostats for those around us. Let’s make sure our light is turned on, and that we are always available to be used by God to change the culture for the eternal prize, which is salvation in Christ. The eternal God has made a way for the holders of that prize to change the culture around us.
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Randy Wolff
Originally published May 3, 2011
Copyright 2011 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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