I’d forgotten the number one rule.
On a Saturday morning, I’d gone to a driving range to hit a bucket of balls. After choosing my bucket size (the middle choice), I went out, set up, and started swinging my big driver.
And golf ball after golf ball skittered across the ground.
Not good.
Not good at all.
A piddling one dribbled about ten feet. Another one skipped across the rough ground to my right. A third scampered off to the left.
No impressive distance.
No consistent direction.
Until I remembered the number one rule in golf. Keep your eye on the ball.
Slap on head.
My drives remained far from amazing but they improved drastically the moment I kept my head down and my eye on the ball.
So what’s the number one rule in life?
What helps us maintain distance and direction as we move through our daily routines?
And what are the life challenges that distract us from that number one rule?
A book’s release.
A brother’s cancer.
A friend’s marital woes.
Remodeling.
Repairing.
Moving.
Change of jobs.
Change of addresses.
The list of distractions grows if we let them.
But again what is the keep-your-eye-on-the-ball rule of life?
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 states: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (NIV)
The author of Hebrews writes: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2a NIV).
In a recent conversation, my friend Walt asked me, “What church do you belong to?”
We then discussed our two church homes, which were Lutheran (him) and Nazarene (me).
I then said, “Walt, when I talk to other people about faith, I ask one simple question. Do you love Jesus?”
His noticeably blue eyes twinkled and a smile crept across his face. “I sure do.”
The number one rule in life is to keep your eyes on Jesus. When I remember that and practice it, I recognize a drastic difference in the distance and direction of my life.
I’m curious. What of life’s challenges distracts you from fixing your eyes on Jesus? What brings you back to the number one rule of life?
Recommended reading:
Michael Hyatt’s “Your Life Is the Sum of Your Choices”
Slice of Infinity’s “What is Faith?”
You can find my novel, Dark Eyes, Deep Eyes, at:
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Baseball, Bikes, Birds and the Bible 
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