One More Stroke
One More Stroke
The Masters Championship golf tournament in Augusta, GA is the first major golf tournament of the year. This year’s Masters Championship was this past weekend. On Sunday, the last day of the tournament, CBS had a program leading up to the tournament in which they showcased Phil Mickelson, last year’s winner. For many years Phil Mickelson had been know as “the best golfer never to win a major.” Phil had done great in majors with 6 second-place or third-place finishes, but had never won a major prior to 2004. At some of those majors that he lost and came in second, he lost by one stroke. He knew that if he could just improve his game by 1 stroke during a four-day tournament, that he would have enough to tie or win a major. He trained to make one great shot, to avoid making a huge mistake, and to tweak his game just enough to gain that stroke needed to win a major tournament. That hard work and dedication paid off at the 2004 Masters Championship when he won by 1 stroke over Ernie Ells by making an 18-foot birdie putt. The following year Phil won his second major tournament by winning the PGA Championship again by 1 stroke over his opponents. The following year he won the 2006 Masters Championship and he wins that tournament by 2 strokes.
It is hard to think that 1 little stroke or one little mistake can cause us to lose so much. If we stop to look around us we can see many examples of how one little mistake can cause huge consequences; one little lie can destroy someones character and integrity, one small glance off to one side of the road while driving can be catastrophic, one little moment of weakness in temptation could destroy an entire family, one little spark can destroy a mountainside, or if a hunter has aimed his weapon wrong by a hair to one side it could miss the target by several feet. How important is it for us to trust and obey God completely?
The results of making our own interpretation of God’s Word or by adding or taking a little something away from it, could have huge consequences. Success, on the other hand, is measured by how close we walk in accordance to God’s Word; our trust and complete obedience to His Word and to Him. God told Joshua as they were about to enter the promise land “be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you, do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go” (Joshua 1:7). As we read further we know that the Jewish nation had great success and prospered everywhere they went. Too often we want to do things our way, with our understanding, and in a way that suites our best interest. We change God’s Word a little to make it fit our selfish desires and to excuse our sinful lifestyle. It is in little things, things that we never would have attempted before, we now do without giving it a second thought or feeling any convictions about it.
I want to finish this post with a challenge and encouragement with a couple verses from God’s Word; In Proverbs 3:5-6 we read that if we will trust God and obey Him, He will make our paths straight, and in Joshua 1:8, “keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Great! It hits me right between the eyes”God’s will be done, not mine.”
Thank you for sharing.