It doesn’t take long for a manicured lawn to deteriorate and become unrecognizable. 

The other day I watched the Master’s golf tournament on TV. It is one of the four major tournaments on the PGA tour each year. 

The Master’s is the only tournament that is played at the same course every year. It’s played at Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia. 

Normally the tournament is held in March, but this year, because of COVID, it was postponed to November.

Though the time of year was very different, the beauty of the course is unmatched. The course was lush green and the trees had all their leaves.

The course was manicured to such perfection that even someone who didn’t like golf would pause to let their eyes drink in the beauty of the scenery.  

But what if the greenskeeper and the grounds crew just walked away one day? What if they just stopped cutting the grass, trimming the trees, laying down new pine straw? 

How long would it take for that golf course to go from a picture of beauty to a forgotten field?

I ask that question because just this morning I drove by what was once a golf course but is now completely unrecognizable as one. 

Granted this golf course would never have been in any way on a similar scale as Augusta. This was a course that was played by those who didn’t really take the game of golf seriously. You might have played it if you were not a golfer and someone twisted your arm and begged you to play.

However, the grass was fertilized and cut regularly throughout each week. They used special mowers on the greens so that it was like a carpet. 

Yet, in the matter of four years, you can not tell by driving by the course that there was ever a golf course there. 

Four years and it is completely unrecognizable! 

I couldn’t find exact dates of when the Westbrook Golf Club closed for good, but I found comments about the course from August 2016. From those comments, I can’t imagine the course was still open the following year. 

I was stunned when I drove by, I couldn’t believe the property could deteriorate so quickly.

I strained to see if I could tell where some of the fairways had been. But there was nothing that gave even an outline of where they once had been.

I had only played there a couple of times over twenty years before, but a golfer doesn’t forget how a course is laid out. 

There was no longer any layout.

Seeing the lush growth of Augusta on TV the day before, it made me sad that it took only four short years for Westbrook to fall into such disrepair. 

All the work that goes into making a golf course, a park, a green space for people’s recreation will not last long without constant care and attention. 

Here’s the thing: When you put your faith in Christ, a transformation happens to your spiritual life. The Bible says it goes from being dead to alive. However, without constant nurture and care, it will not take long before your newly transformed spiritual life starts to deteriorate to the point that it’s unrecognizable anymore. Don’t let that happen. Nurture is a must. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What can you do to attend to your spiritual life? Leave your comments and questions below.

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