I guess I’m working on a little series about “How Life is Like Golf” — see entries one and two for earlier thoughts. So here is today’s entry: “keep your eye on the ball.”
I’m still learning golf. One of my biggest problems is consistency. I’ve gotten pretty good at hitting off the tee, and my iron shots are getting better, but I seldom hit two or three good shots in a row. This was the case on the front nine when I played yesterday. I’d hit a good drive, giving myself a chance to be on the green in two, only to dribble my second shot a short distance or skull it into the trees. By the back nine, I realized what I was doing wrong: I was taking my eye off the ball.
In a good golf swing, your head has some lateral motion, but your eyes need to stay on the ball through the point of contact. If you rotate your head back or forward, you take yourself out of a strong hitting position, and often fail to make solid contact. If you keep your eyes on the ball, you’re more likely to shift your weight properly and hit a strong shot. And, indeed, later in the round, as I focused on this thought, my swings improved, until I finally achieved a straight, long drive, followed by a high, straight 6-iron onto the green (cutting a dogleg, I should add!), and two putts for a par.
There’s a similar principle at work in just about any sport. In fact, you could call “keep your eye on the ball” one of the Cardinal Rules of Sport.
And, the principle carries over into our spiritual lives. I’ve been reminded of this over the past week or so as I’ve been spending more time reading my Bible. I’d gotten busy, and had been neglecting to set time aside for Bible study and prayer. I took my eye off the ball, and the quality of my life began to suffer — my speech wasn’t as controlled as it should have been, my temper was more likely to erupt, my concern for myself was increasing while my concern for others was waning.
There are many good things for us to become involved in, and each of us have gifts to exercise. We’re all capable, through the Holy Spirit, of hitting a brilliant Tiger Woods-like “spiritual golf shot” once in a while. But we all need always to focus first on the basics of following Jesus. We need to come before him regularly in prayer and to regularly and purposefully study his word. We need to keep our eyes on the ball.