Learning from the Master

In Mark 8:31, Jesus laid out for His disciples some of the dynamics of the plan for His life:
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus had a clear sense of His purpose - true, He lived a sinless life, and taught us various principles of life as His disciple, a redeemed life, a renewed life.   He left us an example, but the only way we can really follow in His steps is to surrender to Him, to embrace the cross, to die to self and live to Him, to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.   He died and rose again, and He calls us to identity with Him in His crucifixion, so we can experience His abundant life.

We fix our eyes on Jesus, according to Hebrews 12.   Verse 2 describes Him as the...
...author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

The sporting world shifts this week from March Madness to Masters-mania - plenty of speculation from the world of golf regarding arguably its most dynamic event, with questions such as "will Tiger Woods recover from his personal struggles to wear the green jacket?" or "will Phil Mickelson be able to hold on for another victory?"   Perhaps a little-known golfer will take the crown, like last year's winner Charl Schwartzel.   Or maybe Rory McIlrory will discover that it takes 72 holes of competition to win the Masters.

Sports psychologist and Christian David Cook learns that discipline in golf parallels discipline in life, and has attempted to relate principles consistent with Biblical truth in his book, "Golf's Sacred Journey" and the movie based on it, "Seven Days in Utopia", which I highly recommend.   The premise is that a golfer who has suffered a major meltdown arrives in Utopia, Texas and spends 7 days there presumably to improve his golf game, but learns a series of life's lessons.   These lessons are summarized by the letters, SFT, which stands for "See it. Feel it. Trust it."   But we learn that these letters are more than just about golf - the broader application for these letters is:  See His face.  Feel His presence.  Trust His love.

And, on this Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, we can focus on Jesus as He endured pain and suffering, and ultimately death, for you and me, and for the sins of the world.   His face of agony ultimately became transformed to a face of compassion.   And, because Jesus has risen to new life and sent His Holy Spirit, we can experience His presence every day.   We trust in His love because He paid the ultimate price for us - His focus was on the redemption of His people, and therefore He endured the cross.   SFT - that's the message that the golfer in "Seven Days in Utopia" learned, but it was less about golf and more about life, a life surrendered to the Savior.