Last week in Augusta, Georgia the 88th Masters golf tournament was held. Truly, an awesome venue chocked full of treasured memories. Like any other tournament, there is only one winner. For the second time in the last three years, Dallas’ own Scottie Scheffler put on the honored green jacket. And equally interesting, he has won three of the last four tournaments that he entered and 2nd in the fourth one. Truly amazing. He is now ranked the number one golfer in the world.
What was very interesting to me, and I believe countless others agree, he did it without his ‘A’ game. He was at or near the top of the leaderboard all four days. There was really good competition with a tight match all the way until Sunday afternoon on the back nine. What I saw in Scottie’s performance reminded me of Paul’s statements in Philippians. Scottie would have some bogey holes and would drop a few spots, and then, amazingly, he would refocus and birdie a hole or two to get back up with the leaders. Look at Paul’s words.
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Phil.3.12-14
I underlined what I saw in Scottie…his concentration and focus and his ability to overcome adversity. He kept his eyes on the goal of winning the Masters. Paul makes it clear that you don’t look back at your mistakes, your bogeys or double bogeys, or the putts you should have made. Paul says that he presses on toward the goal for the prize. In his case, he was speaking of eternal life. Scottie’s 18 holes on Sunday personified these words of Paul. He did not let the past shots or mistakes define him.
So, what can we learn from Paul and Scottie? We cannot allow ourselves to be dragged down by our past failures. It’s like, ‘staying in the present, but focused on the future’. We must believe that “all things work together for good for those who are called according to his (Jesus’) purpose.” We have to stay focused, with our eyes on the prize. We live ‘Today’ with ‘That Day’ in the future in mind.
As a Christian, I believe Scottie would say amen to this. Praise the Lord for these wonderful truths and reminders from everyday life and the word of God.