If you are a golfer, you’ll appreciate these humorous observations about the game of golf:

*  The game of golf is 90% mental and 10% mental.

*  Since bad shots come in groups of three, a fourth bad shot is actually the beginning of the next group of three.

*  No matter how bad you are playing, it is always possible to play worse.

*  Counting on your opponent to inform you when he breaks a rule is like expecting him to make fun of his own haircut.

*  The shortest distance between any two points on a golf course is a straight line that passes directly through the center of a very large tree.

*  There are two kinds of bounces; unfair bounces and bounces just the way you meant to play it.

*  You can hit a two acre fairway 10% of the time and a two-inch branch 90% of the time.

*  Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe.

*  Hazards attract, fairways repel.

*  A ball you can see in the rough from 50 yards away is not yours.

*  If there is a ball in the fringe and a ball in the bunker, your ball is in the bunker.

*  Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing.

It’s the last one that I can best relate to.  I may well be the worst golfer in the world.  I’ve had a few people argue with me about that, but after they’ve played a round with me, they stop arguing.  My problem with golf is that I have to think about everything.  Hold the club just right, hold the elbow right, don’t hit my head on the backswing, keep my eyes on the ball, keep my head down and the knees bent.  And watch out for the tree; there’s always a tree to worry about!  You can’t think about all that and then hit a golf ball!

Living the Christian life can sometimes feel the same way – Don’t do this!  Don’t do that!  Don’t go there!  And make sure you do this!  It can be overwhelming at times.  Sometimes I think we make Christianity more difficult than it needs to be.  Paul wrote:

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Corinthians 10:31)

What if we lived our lives asking one question and one question only, “Am I living my life in a way that brings glory to God?”  Do people see that I’m treating my wife and my children in a way that brings honor to God?  Am I working at my job in a way that causes the name of God to be glorified?  Can the cashier at the grocery store or the teacher in my classroom honor my God because of the way I behave while I am around them?

Three hundred thoughts can be overwhelming.  Try living today with just one thought – “Am I living in a way that brings glory to God?”

Have a great day!

Alan Smith