Always On Par?

Are you always on par? I try to be. Not because I want to be perfect, but because I love God and that love impassions me to obey Him as perfectly as my human condition allows me. How about you? Do you obey out of your will power, or out of your worship relationship with God? Talking about “par” makes me think about my favorite game, golf.

So many people play golf and a lot of them really love this game, like I do. I would love to play “par” golf. But most of the time I don’t, because there are so many variables. The drive, the iron shots, the chipping, and the putting. How can you be perfect in all these things all the time? Some people are! I am not one of those who are perfect all the time. You have to get all four of those variables working good together to get a par, or even maybe a hole in one! I usually play bogey ball! I am usually one or two over par.

The cool thing is that even though there are times I am playing over par, not perfectly, I know I am perfectly loved by God. I may not live life in perfect harmony with everyone in my life at all times, but I have been on par for most of it.

Do people judge your whole life by one bad putt that causes you to miss par? Do they say? What a bad golfer! Why is it that people expect you to always be on par, when they are not? Why is it when you are not always on par, they won’t play with you? It is sad that the very people who can’t play up to par, will withdraw from others, put up boundaries to keep you off the course they play, because you missed a putt for par. Why is that? Could it be because they don’t know how to love unconditionally? Could it be that they need to be in control of who plays their life course with them? Could it be that they have hidden motives that no one sees but God.

Thankfully God does see all. Thankfully God knows all. Thankfully God still wants to play on the course with the ones other’s betray and reject. This is how you play on par in the course of life, you do what Jesus did and love like He loved. Yes, the game of golf teaches us much, but mostly teaches us to desire to play below par just like Jesus did.

Golf seems to parallel life sometimes in our life story. God likes to teach me about the game of life sometimes through the principles of the game of golf. I want to play at the level of “par” in other words, I want to finish this day and every day well. It is good when we serve our God first, with the goal of serving His Kingdom first, one day at a time. So today, if you play, I hope you finish well, below par!

What do we need to finish on “par”? What do we need to finish well? Well, it is not about what we can do. Can anyone have a perfect life story, play a perfect round of golf? In all the different kinds of life situations that can pop up, can we play well? Can we have the perfect drive, the perfect chip the perfect putt all the time? From experience, I can say no, we can’t. Can we make the right choice from every moment to every choice, my experience in this says, no.

Everyone wants to live at par and to do that we need to be connected heart to heart with with God. God doesn’t expect a par out of us every single time, He wants us us to depend on Him. When I put things in God’s Hands and work out our life with His strength, power and wisdom, we live at par and we finish well. Independent from God, we don’t do as well, as we do when we are being navigated by God’s Holy Spirit. It is great to be in that place where we are positioned underneath the rulership of God’s love, and we live our lives at par and above.

I don’t know any golfer who has never had a bad shot or a bad game, likewise in life we have bad days, we flesh out, and make choices that are not up to par. But that is what is so great about our God, He forgives, corrects our course, and gives us a new day to play again. He doesn’t forsake us or betray us, He invites us to play again. Then, we will definitely play better, probably below par because we have learned from the Master, and yielded to the direction, power, and strength of the only One Who has never not made par.

So get out there and swing well, believe in the power, strength and love of a Savior Who loves us so well. Don’t let yourself get distracted by all the little things on the course, the sudden obstacles and stay focused on staying in followship of God and your driver, iron, chipper, and putter, and all the tools God has equipped you with to play with will help you play well below par, even making a hole in one! Happy Golfing!

Dig Deeper: https://thebridegroomscafe.com/golf-life-lessons/
https://rumble.com/v50k1r8-yes-i-can.html