And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23, ESV)
It was one of my first times playing in Coachella Valley, the Southern California golf equivalent of Fantasy Island, and I was a little nervous.
Elevating the importance of this round was the group. Specifically, I was playing golf with Mark “Ole” (olee) Olson, a member of the national board of directors of Links Players.
I was fairly new with Links and didn’t know if the board knew I existed. So, the very idea of a round of golf with a board member was a little intimidating.
None of this had to do with Ole himself. Sure, he had been an attorney, and I have no doubt he could make a witness wilt just by looking him in the eye. But he smiled a lot, seemed genuinely happy to meet me, and was delighted to show off his home course.
I was scraping the ball around OK when we arrived at a par three over water—all carry and 170 yards, according to someone who knew. “OK, Lewis,” I said to myself, “You’ve got to hit this 6-iron solid.” And I did.
The ball arced nicely toward the center of the green, and as I smiled, it dropped out of the air 20 yards short of land with a splash.
I was no longer nervous; I was embarrassed. I was about to defend the quality of my shot when Ole said. “Great shot, but you aimed at the wrong green. Ours is over there.” Whoops.
In golf, it turns out, direction is important. Most golfers think of direction when they are putting. In fact, I believe most of us think of direction far too much on the greens and far too little elsewhere.
As in golf, we should be thinking about direction as much — or even more — in the big picture as we do in the smaller pictures.
For years I thought I was supposed to play golf competitively, and I kept trying to go in that direction. That’s a small picture, and I was letting it take precedence over the big picture.
I loved Jesus, but was I really following Jesus? Once I truly died to myself, the answer was yes. And suddenly, every direction in my life began to straighten out.
Get the big picture direction right, and the smaller pictures will be easier to see. Both your golf ball and your life will be on the green, not at the bottom of a pond.
Prayer: Father, you sent Jesus to show us the way. May we follow him to you and in every part of our lives.
In his powerful name, Amen