Marbles In My Pocket ~ The Official Blog of Charles L. Mashburn ~ Poems, Short Stories, and random thoughts from the author of "Be Still… and know that I am God"

When my buddies and I play golf, I often razz them when they hit a poor shot that doesn’t go very far by saying, “You’re getting closer!” I know they all just love my wit and sense of humor. But the thing is…  when one of us hits a poor shot, it’s usually due to the fact we’re not paying attention to the basics—the fundamentals of the game—like keeping our eye on the ball and swinging the club the way we know we should. The funny thing about golf is, when the game is finished, we tend to forget those bad shots and choose to remember the shots we hit well. It’s those good shots that cause us to want to come back and play again. We golfers are mostly eternal optimists, always believing one day we’ll get it right.

I often seem to have the same problem when it comes to loving God. I seem to hit way more bad shots than good ones and my game isn’t always what it should be, if you know what I mean. I’m certainly not in a place now where God totally dominates my thoughts, but I believe every day I get much closer to being there than I’ve ever been. And, I can see the difference it makes in my life—especially when it comes to peace. And the thing is, the more peace I have, the more peace I want. It is really quite addictive.

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.   Romans 8:6