Recently I was playing golf with a friend and as we were finishing the 14th hole, one of us (me) miss hit our approach shot to the green. The cart path went to the left of the green yet my ball was to the right, so we drove that way and discovered what appeared to be a shortcut around the green. We finished the hole, took the shortcut, and were proudly on our way.

Truly a Shortcut?
The shortcut led us right to the next tee—or so we thought. We were not familiar enough with the course to realize we were now playing the 18th hole instead of the 15th. And yes, you’re correct; in my satisfaction with the shortcut I did not pay attention to the signs. We finished the 18th hole only to realize there was not another hole to play.

We spent the next 15 minutes driving around trying to figure out where we went wrong. Backtracking, we eventually found our way to the 15th tee. Yet the tee was already occupied by other players in their rightful slot. We drove forward and found our spot two holes later. So our shortcut cost us time and opportunity as we were not able to complete a full round.

The Cost of Shortcuts
We laughed at the time at what a life lesson that it was (shortcuts, as a rule, don’t work) and how it reminded us of Abraham. When he attempted to take shortcuts to God’s promise, whether through lies, deceit, or listening to unwise counsel, it always cost him. And it does us as well.

Paul reminded Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11-12 that perseverance was one of the qualities he was to pursue in fighting the good fight of our faith. There are no shortcuts.

Taking the long way with you,

Barry McCall

Photo Credit: Nimish Gogri
Photo License: Creative Commons 2.0