Keeping our Eyes on the Ball
After church yesterday, our family converged at Austin Country Club for the PGA’s World Golf Championship Match Play finale. I’ll admit I stayed in the guest suite out of the 90+ degree, sun-blaring heat. I watched the game on a large screen until the players and spectators made it to the 15th hole. That hole is where our suite looked over with a great view. In fact, the game ended at the 15th hole and we watched the celebrations and interview with a bird’s eye view! What a blessing!
Austin’s own University of Texas alumni, 25-year-old Scottie Scheffler, not only won the championship, but he became the World Champion. Congrats to ALL the golfers who walked away with a nice payoff.
From our suite, we could see how the ball was the center of everyone’s attention. Just a little 1.680 inches-in-diameter ball and the accuracy of the golfers, made for Scottie winning the $2.1 million first prize, and the runner-up Kevin Kisner, earned $1.3 million. Not bad for a few days’ work……but their wins were not an overnight success. They had kept their eyes on the ball since they were kids.
As I watched the spectators crowding around to watch the game, I remembered another story about keeping our eyes on the ball. A dad said: “My 7-year-old son seems to have natural abilities for sports, and most recently, for baseball. I’ve taken him for batting cage practice, I throw the ball to him a lot and I go with him to his team’s practice, but I don’t really know what to tell him to do because I wasn’t a baseball player. I really did want to help him so I asked one of my “jock” friends, “What should I do to help him? My friend responded “He’s seven. You only need to tell him one thing…..”WATCH THE BALL! It works for any sport when you’re seven…..just WATCH THE BALL!”
And, that’s what those golfers and spectators were doing yesterday. Like that coach said “Keep your eyes on what is the most important thing….the ball. That one thought will provide the foundation any ball-player needs for any sport that they’ll play.” It certainly paid off for those golfers yesterday!
The players of ball sports have been taught that “Watch the Ball” principle, and now it’s a habit for them, and that’s the habit that has served them well. It’s getting all distractions out of the way and focusing their attention on “the right things”. I gave that analogy to emphasize the importance of keeping our eyes on Jesus and His Word so that we can stop the intruders of our thought life that try to come in and steal our peace and joy from us.
I think our Heavenly Father must want to take our faces in His loving hands when we’re focusing on all the distractions, issues, anxieties and worries of our lives. Lovingly, he says: “LOOK at ME! Watch Me! Focus on Me!”
Hebrews 12:2 says “We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith….” When we take our eyes off Him and His Word, life will take our eyes to so many things – the wrong things – the distracting situations, people, and problems. It works for successful athletes who have developed a habit of keeping their eyes on the ball. Perhaps we would be become successful and fruitful followers of Christ, if we habitually focus our attention on Him and His Word.
Twila Paris recorded this song years ago, and it still blesses me and reminds me where my eyes should be focusing today:
“I’m not looking behind me, at mistakes I’ve already made.
Hope is living inside me. I believe that my debts are paid.
Trusting You now, I know I can make it
I made a vow, I don’t want to break it
Lord, I’m keeping my eyes on You, following You, following You.
My Lord, I’m keeping my eyes on You, following You, Following You, my Lord.”