Don\u2019t spend life playing it safe for God, columnist Jim Elliff says. Instead, as Elliff says — using an illustration from Augusta National — \u201cgo for broke\u201d for the glory of God.<\/p>\n
==============<\/p>\n
For some reason unknown to humankind, my older brother once got to play golf on the distinguished Augusta National golf course, the course where perhaps the best tournament of the year is held — The Masters.<\/p>\n
It was there that the following life-shaping event took place. He was playing through the course with the required caddy. After he landed in the middle of hole 13 of the notorious 3-hole Amen Corner, he asked the caddy for a certain short iron.<\/p>\n
Astonished, the veteran caddy exclaimed, \u201cWhat do you want with this iron?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to play it safe by laying up just this side of the creek,\u201d my brother replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan,\u201d the caddy exclaimed, \u201cYou didn\u2019t fly all this way to hit [a] lay-up shot at the Amen Corner!\u201d And he yanked out a fairway wood to hand to my brother.<\/p>\n
My brother said, \u201cBut I might go into the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might or you might not,\u201d said the caddy, \u201cbut one thing is for sure — you\u2019ll never know till you try.\u201d<\/p>\n
My humbled sibling dutifully took the wood from his hands, smacked the ball, and it landed on the green!<\/p>\n
Astounded, he exclaimed, \u201cI\u2019m going to go home and write down in my Bible what you just told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand what you\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see,\u201d said my brother, \u201ca man can get to an age and stage in life where he can be content just to hit lay-ups — short, easy, no risk shots. But you\u2019re right, I haven\u2019t come all this way in life just to hit lay-ups. Starting tomorrow morning, I\u2019m going to get up and hit it as hard and as far as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are those believers whose entire life is spent hitting lay-ups. These are the cautious, forever tentative people. Sadly, not much happens for the Kingdom of God through them.<\/p>\n
There is a time to be careful, of course. It\u2019s not courageous to play tennis on the highway, for instance — it\u2019s just stupid. But we\u2019re talking here about the big issues of life. Are you tentative or tenacious in your approach to the future? Did God place you in the world just to protect yourself or to do something meaningful and courageous?<\/p>\n
We should have the spirit of Caleb. He was no golfer, but he could still climb a mountain at age 85. As a friend of mine once said, \u201cHe was not of a retiring disposition.\u201d In the allotment of lands in Canaan, this adventurous, faith-filled octogenarian requested that his portion be the hill country where the giants lived in \u201cgreat fortified cities.\u201d Life would not be flat and meaningless for this man. There was something to do.<\/p>\n
God often commends boldness. \u201cBe strong and very courageous,\u201d God told Joshua. \u201cWe had the boldness of God,\u201d said Paul. \u201cThe righteous are as bold as a lion,\u201d stated Solomon.<\/p>\n
You only have one trip through this world, or, to put it another way, you only get on the course once. You may not play out the entire 18 holes, or you may be blessed with a double round. Regardless, you had better take advantage of the short time you have. Life is not about lay-up shots, but bold advances for the Savior.<\/p>\n
I remember a turning point in my life at age 38. Lots of men feel it. They know enough about their past to understand what they should and should not be doing. They are not that old, but they are more aware than before that the last hole is actually not all that far away. It\u2019s time to decide. Do you hit a lay-up or do you go for broke?<\/p>\n
With the help of a now deceased friend, J. Oswald Sanders, who had also experienced a great change in his life direction around my age, I decided against complacency in my Christian life and ministry. I took an entirely new direction, over my uncompromising creek, for the sake of the glory of God. Some of my friends and family were not sure I was sane, but I was determined to experience \u201cGod\u2019s work, done in God\u2019s way\u201d (as missionary Hudson Taylor put it). I\u2019ve never regretted it.<\/p>\n
You cannot just dream something up for your life out of nothing, but rather must find out from God what you are to do. He leads you in a way that demands faith. But will you do it? Can you even bring yourself to think of it?<\/p>\n
First, humbly tell God that you are ready to do something significant for Him, whatever glorifies Him at any cost. Second, pray, read the Bible, get counsel, and search until you find out the kind of faith-filled ministry that will make a difference in the kingdom. Get this from God. Third, ask others who will encourage your faith to pray with you. Surround yourself with \u201ccaddies\u201d who have some spunk. And then, pull out your fairway wood and swing hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.\u201d Luke 9:24.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #6421]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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