Simple but Difficult

Belated Blessings, my dear friends!

Today, I simply wanted to reflect on a quote from a movie I saw a few weeks ago that has been resonating in my head ever-since. It is from the movie "Bobby Jones" (or something along those lines) about the amateur golfer who won the "Grand Slam" - the only golfer in history. An interesting story, and thought provoking, making me think about why I do what I do. Anyway, at one point in the movie, Bobby Jones sits down next to his friend during a golf match and says "The longer I play this game, the harder it gets."

Yeah, that pretty much says it all. That is exactly how I feel about this Christian journey. The more I learn and the longer I journey, the harder it gets!

Golf is a simple game - get the ball in the hole. Yet there is so much more to it. While that is the focus of the game, there are many obstacles and traps along the way. Not to mention the fact that every hole is different from the last, and must be approached a little differently within the structure of the game.

This causes me to reflect on the simplicity of it all - Jesus Christ. Is my focus on Him, alone. Is getting to know Him my goal? Or has my service for Him become my goal? Or my disciplines toward Him? Or my thoughts and teachings about Him? These things are wonderful, yet they are simply tools - our golf clubs, if you will - to get to know Him, get a little closer to Him with each stroke. If He, alone, is my goal, all else will come with. Yet, if I have any other goal, however noble or beautiful, I will miss the true goal altogether.

We have really complicated this Christian walk, haven't we? We have made it a maze, when in fact, it is a narrow path, traversed by the One who wishes us to follow Him. Yet, while it is simple, it is still difficult - so easy to get side-tracked or stuck, or feel as though we fallen 100 strokes behind. And just when we think we've got it, we move on the next hole, only to find it a little different from the last. I believe that God wants us to pursue Him. And not just pursue Him, but desire Him, long for Him, work for Him (though we do not have to); just as He pursues us, desires us, longs for us, and works for us. It is in the very simplicity of our journey with Christ that it feels so difficult. Sometimes I wonder if we make it difficult, just because we think it should be.

I know these thoughts feel scattered and incomplete, but so does this Christian life. So what is there to do? I cannot tell you that - I am simply thinking out-loud. I believe we must simply follow Jesus with all that we are, trusting Him around every bend, and giving Him all that we have and all that we are. We must use everything within us and around us to get to know Him a little better.