Invest and Improve

I enjoy underdog stories how about you? This weekend we saw the world’s top players go home early and men who were long shots in the tournament played on. Ted Potter Jr. and Troy Kelly were unheard of names on the PGA Tour until Sunday. Potter will be given a “pass” to the Masters and both men will be in line for a lifestyle change. Troy Kelly was working in construction just trying to make enough money to play golf. Both will get a substantial payday that will help propel them into their golf career. How would you feel if you went from struggling to make ends meet to trying to figure out what to do with a lot of money. I know, it’s a good problem, but a lot of Americans today find themselves in financial disparity

The story I took from this weekend was of Troy Kelly. Kelly was struggling to make ends meet until this week of golf for him. There is something a lot of us don’t take into consideration. These guys spend a vast amount of time working to get into the position they found themselves in Sunday. They invested in their game to improve themselves on the course. I always find it funny when people say so flippantly, “Well he should be able to hit that shot he’s a pro. Or, well I could do that also, if I was a pro”. Like the person just all of the sudden became a pro.

I think a lot of people think that, just because a guy is a pastor, he automatically is where he is because he’s a pastor. “He knows the bible better than I do because he’s a pastor, he’s a professional.” This is my parallel. The guys we see on the PGA Tour all work and practice their game. Like the two men we saw this weekend. They put in the hard work and it finally paid off. So, why don’t we put in the work studying our bibles if we want to follow the God of the universe? I’ve seen countless men and women continually fall into the trap of not spending time working on their spiritual growth and then wonder why they can’t pull of the “shots” when the trouble comes. What we don’t realize is that we are setting ourselves up for failure.

Jesus was talking with His listeners as they tried to trick Him. He said this to His listeners in the book of Mathew 22:29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” Do you lack power in your life? If you don’t know the scriptures then you don’t know Him personally. If you don’t know Him personally, then you don’t know His power. The Pros have power in their games because they spend time on their game daily. You don’t have to be a pastor or some kind of a professional theologian to study and know Gods word. I sometimes say this statement that gets me in hot water, but I think it’s safe to say it today, “If you don’t spend time in your bible daily, you don’t have relationship with the Lord, you have an acquaintance”. Spiritual growth is the most important practice you and I can do. If we are not putting in the time and effort we are not going to grow. Healthy things grow!