Blog » IF YOU DON'T KEEP UP...
- Oct 6th, 2015 at 2:48 PM (CST)
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IF YOU DON’T KEEP UP…
I have felt humiliated lately on the golf course. Just three years ago I was a respectable golfer, not PGA material by any means, but good enough not to be embarrassed among those who play scratch golf. Now? Oh, man, based on my last two outings, thinking of how far I have fallen from my previous skill level I hang my head in shame.
What happened? I merely stopped playing for a while. I used to play at least once each week, but for the past three years I dropped off; this year I was on a course twice. No wonder my game has gone downhill. I didn’t keep up on the practice, so why should I think I could still hit the ball well?
Perhaps you see a spiritual analogy coming? How many people do you know who stopped “practicing” faith? They stopped going to church, stopped reading the Bible, gave up a devotional and prayer time, and stopped giving their offerings, too. Perhaps you can guess what will happen to their spirit – the same thing that happened to my golf game!
The pernicious part of such spiritual slacking is the deception that the ego/mind tells us we’ve not changed. We actually think we are still good at what we once did. We discount the slippage because we haven’t revisited the faith practices, just as I wanted to believe that I was still a decent golfer. No wonder so many people who have sin by omission (omitting the works God requires) think they are still “good people.” Like delusional athletes, it’s easy to think we’re still good at something when we don’t do it for an extended time. The apostle John warns believers, “Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully (v.8).”
Repentance and recovery is attainable. Repentance means doing a U-turn, or returning to previous good works. I will never recapture my golf form if I don’t accept the slippage and get back to working on it. You will not walk in the grace of God if you don’t repent of the prideful self-righteous attitude and return to “walking with God,” through living your faith.