Practice Makes Perfect

I love golf so my wife recently bought us tickets to the Tiger Woods World Golf Challenge. So this weekend we traveled up to Sherwood Country Club to watch 18 of the world’s top golfers battle it out. It is an absolutely beautiful golf course surrounded by insanely expensive Victorian Mansions and 100 year old oak trees. As I watched the athletes make incredible golf shots on the perfectly manicured fairways and greens, it occurred to me that pro golfers remind me of Jesus. Okay….I know that sounds a little crazy… maybe even a little blasphemous... but let me explain.

 

First of all, what’s the difference between pro golfers and amateurs like me? I can sometimes hit my drives 300 yards, and occasionally make great approach shots and drain a long putt. The difference though….between a pro golfer and a beginner… is that pro golfers hit great shots about 95%-100% of the time, whereas a rookie only hits great shots about 10% -20% of the time.

 

Obviously if you want to get better at golf you have to practice and play more often. So over the last 5 years I have dedicated myself to practicing and playing more often and it has definitely paid off. At this point in time I am probably hitting great shots about 30%-40% of the time and my scores have improved tremendously. If I keep practicing and keep working hard at it, I know I can get better. I may never be as a good as a pro, but I can get definitely improve depending on how hard I work at it and how dedicated I am.

 

So that is why when I saw Rory McIlroy hit an absolutely perfect approach shot to within 12” of the pin, it reminded me of Jesus. Why….because the difference between Jesus and the rest of us is that Jesus was perfect 100% of the time and we are only perfect about 10%-20% of the time. But…like amateur golfers (or amateur Christians), if we practice being perfect, if we work hard at it every day and if we dedicate our lives to it…we can definitely improve!

 

I know I will never be able to live a perfect life on earth like Jesus did, but that’s okay, we’re not supposed to be perfect. What I do know is that I can improve every single day if I work at it. Think about it, just like in golf or any sport for that matter, if we were to practice being sin free several times a week and perhaps dedicate one day a week to trying to be absolutely perfect, we would definitely get better just like we do when we practice a sport. And if we love the Lord like we do our sports…what could be more important!

Rory McIlroy works on becoming perfect!

Practice doesn't make perfect.
Practice reduces the imperfection.

~ Toba Beta