I’ve had a solid golf game for a while, but, like most golfers, I have a weak spot. For me, it’s putting. It has plagued me over the years. Even at the height of my golfing career, I could never call myself a great putter – good, yes, but never great. Too bad – I feel like Marlon Brando’s character, Terry Malloy, in the famous scene from the movie On the Waterfront, “I coulda been a contenda!” – LOL!

I still golf now and then, and the story hasn’t changed. I’m still a head case when it comes to putting. I tend to blame my ADD, but that’s a cop-out, to be honest. Having conceded that to myself following my last round, I started reading the book Extraordinary Putting by Fred Shoemaker, for the second time (I guess I’m a slow learner). In that book, he writes:

“Most golfers typically approach a shot trying to remember what they should do (based on what they’ve done in the past), and they go into a mode of anticipating or hoping about the future. Thus, they are never actually in the present moment, and this is true for most of us...

“When is the future? If you really examine it; there really is no such thing as ‘the future’. The future…is something you’re making up in an internal conversation with yourself right now. It’s a thought you’re having now about some time other than this time.

“And when is the past? This is also a thought you are having about some other time, a thought that you are having right now. There are no such things as the future and the past. You can’t go there. They are creations, concepts, and the only time you create them is right now.

“The present is what’s happening outside of those thoughts. It is right now. In actuality, everything is happening now – past, present, and future.

“Two out of the three happen inside our heads (future and past), and one happens in reality…

“Being in reality – this moment – is where learning takes place, where performance is effortless, and enjoyment is natural. And it’s amazing how little time we actually spend in this moment.”

At the writing of his book, Mr. Shoemaker had given forty thousand golf lessons. I think that makes him an expert in his field.

Why do I share this with you? Because golf is particularly good at revealing our psychological weaknesses to us.

We are our own worst enemies most of the time, I believe. We spend so much of this precious time we’ve been given by God here on Earth contemplating, strategizing, and often either worrying about the future or lamenting the past. As just noted, neither of these concepts are actually real; rather, they are merely conceptions we cling to “right now,” and, frankly, they do us no good.

So, I ask you plainly, what’s the benefit to you in perseverating on the future or the past, other than to distract you – nay, rob you – of your freedom to live in peace? Here’s what Jesus had to say.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
- Matthew 6:34

Jesus’ message to His sheep is clear.

Remain present. Your life in Christ is right now. You don’t have a clue as to what tomorrow is going to bring (besides the promises given to you in the Bible related to the fruits of being saved). Even yesterday is long gone; it’s just a story, nothing more than a highlight reel influenced by a multitude of prejudices you impose either for or against yourself. Let the fictitious parts of your life go and live in the “now”! This is precisely what Jesus wants for you, personally.

Living in the future or the past is self-induced slavery.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
- Galatians 5:1

How do you ever expect to enjoy this freedom that Christ purchased for you with His own blood if you live in a fantasy world (the future or the past)? To live in a way which is inconsistent with God’s will is to sin. Sin is, by nature, treacherous, deadly. Paul asked the obvious question, “How can we who died to sin still live in it” (Romans 6:2)? He later encouraged his audience:

For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
- Romans 6:7-8

Are you not, as a believer, free to live with Christ this very moment? Shouldn’t that be sufficient for you? Why are you worried about what tomorrow will bring? You have zero control over it! Same goes for yesterday. Loosen your grip and relax, enjoying today (every day) for what it truly is, a precious gift from God. Go spend some time with loved ones, or call someone up to tell them you appreciate them, or do something for someone who has a real need right now (not in the past or in the future). Don’t just ‘stop and smell the roses’; but, really stop and really bend down and smell the roses!

This life Christ has given us is too good to live outside of it!

Stop living hypothetically and begin living in reality. God says you’ll be blessed for doing so – freer, happier, more content with simply enjoying the moment.

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins