“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33, NLT)
I am looking into changing putters in 2015, since the new putter rule is coming into effect in 2016. I was blessed this year to be given a state-of-the-art putter (standard length) and have been trying to use it on an occasional basis. Let me tell you, it’s been a difficult transition.
A PGA professional once told me if you normally two-putt every green, which is 36 putts on an 18-hole course, but you are able to one-putt three or four greens a round, you would really improve your handicap—by 20 percent if you’re a bogey golfer! We would all love to experience an improvement like that.
In one of my recent Links Players Fellowships, we discussed the following questions with the new year in mind:
1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in 10 years? In eternity?
As you look at 2015, these are all important questions. While I’m asking myself what putter I should use in 2015, far more important is what God wants from me this year!
My life verse is Matthew 6:33. It was an eye-opening verse in my life when I first realized that I was seeking the wrong things first in this life. Once I realized that my perspective was backwards, I needed to change. The answer was that I needed to seek God first and not the worldly things first. It’s always still a challenge for me, and I know it is something I have to remind myself and revisit each and every year.
—
Dereck Wong
January 13, 2015
Copyright 2015 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.