Yesterday, I sat glued to the television as I watched Tiger Woods drop a 25-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the Arnold Palmer Invitational to secure a one-shot victory over Bart Bryant who completed a great round at 9-under par. Tiger’s win at the Orlando, Florida, Bay Hill Club, tied him with Ben Hogan who had 64 career victories.
Without question, Tiger has changed the game of golf. With the exception of a few talented golfers like the colorful John Daly, most young golfers jog, lift weights, stretch, eat healthy foods–whatever they can do to improve, they do it! Even with all their efforts and talents, Tiger is in a different league. If he remains healthy, he will almost certainly pass the 73 career wins of Jack Nicklaus and the 82 wins of Sam Snead. Only time will tell the heights to which Tiger will rise. Surely, many of the players on the PGA Tour must desire to be like Tiger.
As believers, our ultimate goal is to become like Jesus. We can accomplish great strides in that direction, but it will not happen by chance. We must be intentional about the transformation and we must work at it. We should be disciplined in our spiritual life and stay vitally connected to the Lord in an effort to become more like Him. Jesus said:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:1-5 (NIV)
See Are You Spiritually Healthy and Created to Become Like Christ for help in the area of spiritual growth.
