Playing Your Own Game

My father used to tell me when I was learning to play golf competitively, “Play your own game.”  What he meant was if I was playing with someone who, for example, hit the ball longer than me, I should not try to change my game to hit the ball farther but that I should play the way I play best and not worry about the others around me.

The same could be said of life.  So many people waste their lives trying to make more money than those around them or being envious of those with more, or wanting to be something they are not called to be because they think money or fame will make them happy or validate them.  And unfortunately, the ubiquity of television and the internet taunt us to envy and discontentment perhaps more than at any time in history.

Jesus knew people were prone to journey down this destructive path.  After Jesus told Peter the kind of death Peter would suffer, Peter looked over at John and said, “Lord, and what about this man?”  Jesus response was, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:18-23). Was that fair?  At another time, Jesus paid His and Peter’s taxes but not the taxes owed by the other disicples (Matt. 17:24-27).  Was that fair?

The issue then and the issue now is not fairness, but calling.  So, play your own game.  Keep your eyes on Jesus.  Don’t envy others.  GS