Gò0dNews for Men
Golf Balls by Douglas Baynes
I
was out playing golf with a good friend of mine a few
their marbles, he shared in the find. I got them out the other
weeks back. Golf, to me, has always reminded me of
day and got a bucket of water to drop them in and clean
the intro line from the 1960 and ’70s of ABC’s “Wide
them up.
World of Sports.” They aired all the winter Olympic games.
You know, when I finished, most of them looked new.
Remember the announcer? “It’s the thrill of victory! And
There was a Wilson Duo: those are a softer golf ball and
the agony of defeat!” They’d show some poor devil rolling
good for us seniors who can no longer swing as fast as we
down the ski jump, and the other was of a woman skating
used to, and with the ball softer, it gives us a few more yards
so effortlessly. One tee box, I’m driving it 200 yards straight
in distance. Callaway and Titleist balls: now there is the Ford or Chevy grudge match in the golf ball world. Either will go to water or the woods just as well as the green to putt in for par. Pinnacle: those are good as well. The point to all this story is that Adam works at finding them. He kicks the leaves and sticks looking for that one that the other player just would pass over or not take the time to search for. Golf balls are the cheapest thing in your bag, so why make the time? It’s just how the Lord searches for us: those who are lost and dirty from the field of play. He can find you, and better than my bucket of water and Dawn soap, He can clean your soul whiter than new and restore you to new.
down the green, and then I’ll shank it 50 yards into the woods on the next. One swing of the club and thoughts of slipping on
Revelation 21:5: “Behold, I make all things new.” As I got the balls out of the bucket and dried them, they looked new. Christ will clean you, restore you, and put you
the green jacket at Augusta, and then the next, you’re
back on the path of life. The Bible says that He stands at the
wondering if you could make the cut at the putt-putt
door and knocks. I’m of the opinion that, like Adam, He too
playoff, and so it goes. Adam and I were having a great day
is out there kicking over stuff in our life looking for the lost
of it up at Ridgewood, for better or for worse. The sun was
and so wanting to find them.
bright, and with a light breeze, it was very pleasant. Now, what tickles me about Adam is his ability to find lost golf balls: well, others’ lost balls. Every time I’d drop him off to look for his ball or mine, he’d return with a few
Ezekiel 34:11: “For thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.’” Hmm: I never thought a golf ball had so much testimony to it.
when we got back to the clubhouse, he had found 17 balls. We had lost, I think, six of our own. Like kids dividing up
12 // October 2020
About The Author
other balls. We played only the front nine that day, but C. Douglas Baynes lives in Cleveland, Tennessee, with his wife of 39 years, Annie. They attend Peerless Road Church of God of Prophecy.
