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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
Barring the unthinkable or unimaginable, Ben Curtis should win his second PGA Tour title today. The Booz Allen Classic has been plagued with inclement weather for the duration of the tournament. The venue, the Tour Players Club at Avenel hear Potomac, Maryland, is a beautiful course that has been graciously generous to Curtis this past weekend. He has played almost flawless golf having, at one point, hit twenty-seven consecutive greens in regulation. Now he stands ready to win a tournament as he enters the last seven holes of competition with a commanding eight stroke lead.
Don't remember Ben Curtis? Let me refresh your memory. He is the young man from tiny Ostrander, Ohio who took the golf world by storm when he won the Open Championship of Great Britain (we call it the British Open) in 2003. Since then he has won nothing in forty-five starts. Entering today's finishing seven holes for him he stands at twenty-three under par. That's a rather gaudy number. His closest competitor is at fifteen under and has less holes than Curtis to play.
Is it in the bag? One would think so. For those of us who have played the game and still play it, we know that the game can and often does change from day to day. If Curtis comes out flat and one of those behind him gets hot eight strokes can disappear in a hurry. Such is the nature of professional golf. Despite his three straight rounds in the sixties and the fact that he is currently four under for his closing round, this is a man who has not won in almost three full years of competition. If all the variables suddenly line up against him...well. Such is life.
So what are you doing today? Are you contending for a major championship? Are you contending for anything at all? If you answer that question with a "No" perhaps you need to re-examine your life. If you are not a Christian you are contending for your life this very moment. You are trying to live a good enough life to impress God and make Him think that you are the one person who doesn't need His Son's blood to make it to Heaven. If that's the case, all I can say is, "Good luck," although even luck won't help you. You can contend all you want and you will lose. Sorry. I just don't see you, or anybody, becoming as good as Jesus.
The victory is not ours to win. It is already won through the blood of Christ. We must be in Christ to be a part of the victorious ones who will be ushered into God's glory. Then we are a part of the inseparable love of God. "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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