The Narrow Way - Week 9 You Will Know Them by Their Fruit

Welcome back to The Narrow Way!

What an incredible week it's been. I'm writing this back home in Nashville after driving nine hours to St. Augustine, Florida, competing in the first-ever MENA Tour U.S. Q-School, and making the nine-hour drive home. All of that happened in less than a week, and I couldn't be more thankful.

If you read last week's message, you know how quickly this opportunity came together. On Thursday, I received an invitation to compete, and by Sunday I was driving to Florida. There was a lot to figure out in a very short amount of time, but through God's grace and the incredible people He's placed around me, everything came together.

And I'm excited to share that I earned status on the MENA Tour!

God has been answering prayers all week, and I can't begin to tell you how thankful I am. This road isn't easy. Professional golf requires a tremendous amount of time, money, preparation and sacrifice, and there are plenty of moments when I wonder how everything is going to come together. But God continues to remind me that He's right here with me through all of it.

As excited as I am about earning tour status, something else happened in Florida that I think I'll remember long after the tournament.

An Unexpected Conversation on the Range

While I was practicing, I met an elderly gentleman on the driving range. We started talking, and I learned that he was battling cancer. I had some In His Grip Golfer's Bibles with me and felt led to give him one.

What started as a normal conversation on the range turned into one of those moments where you can just feel the Holy Spirit working. As we continued talking, I found out that he was actually a pastor.

Then he shared something with me that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.

He told me that for much of his life, he thought he knew God. He had spent years in ministry, but going through cancer had completely changed the way he understood his relationship with the Father.

He said that now, more than anything, he just wants to be like a little kid hanging onto his Father's leg.

Here's a gentleman who's spent years in ministry and is now walking through something incredibly difficult. And through all of that, what he wants most isn't to have all the answers or understand why he's going through cancer. He just wants to be close to his Father.

I went to Florida to earn professional tour status, and by God's grace, I did. But I also got to stand on a driving range and talk about Jesus with somebody I'd never met before.

That's what this whole mission is about.

You Will Know Them by Their Fruit

In Matthew 7:15–20, Jesus says:

"By their fruit you will recognize them." — Matthew 7:16

We're getting toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus has just finished teaching about the narrow and wide roads. Now He's warning His followers about false prophets, people who might look and sound like they're speaking for God but whose lives and teaching tell a different story.

Jesus compares them to trees. A healthy tree produces good fruit, while a bad tree produces bad fruit. Eventually, what a tree produces reveals something about the tree itself.

He's teaching us to be careful about who we listen to and whose teaching we follow. Just because someone talks about God doesn't necessarily mean they're leading people toward Him.

This passage also makes me think about my own life.

If I tell people I'm a follower of Jesus, what kind of fruit is my life actually producing?

I can write these blogs, post Bible verses and tell people that golf is my mission field. But if the way I treat my wife, my caddie, my competitors or the people I meet doesn't reflect the love of Jesus, then I need to take a look at what's going on in my heart.

That doesn't mean I'm going to get everything right. Trust me, the Lord still has plenty of work to do in me.

But I want people to experience something different because of what Jesus is doing in my life.

Galatians 5:22–23 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

And I think about that gentleman on the range. I didn't know he was a pastor when we started talking. I didn't know what he was going through or where our conversation would lead. I just had an opportunity to love somebody and share something that's completely changed my life.

And in return, God used him to teach me something about knowing Him.

Holding Onto the Father

I've thought about that conversation quite a bit since getting home.

I spend so much time thinking about my next tournament, how I'm going to improve and what opportunities might be coming. I want to be prepared, and I want to make the absolute most of the abilities God has given me.

But I never want to become so focused on everything I'm trying to accomplish that I forget the simplicity of just being close to Jesus.

This week, I earned status on a professional tour. That's something I've been praying for, and I'm incredibly thankful.

But I also met a man battling cancer who reminded me that the greatest thing we can have in this life isn't a career, an accomplishment or even good health.

It's knowing our Heavenly Father.

And the more I get to know Him, the more I want my life to reflect Him.

Pray With Me

Jesus, thank You for Your goodness and faithfulness. Thank You for the opportunities You've given us, the prayers You've answered and the people You've placed in our lives.

Lord, I pray for the gentleman I met on the range and for everyone walking through sickness or difficult seasons Remind them that you are Jehovah Rapha. You are the Healer. Draw them close to You and remind them that they are never alone.

Help us produce fruit that reflects Your love. Teach us to be patient, kind, faithful and gentle with the people around us. And when we get too caught up in our own plans, remind us that the greatest thing we can do is draw closer to You.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Take It to the Tee

This week, I want to leave you with a question I've been asking myself.

If someone watched the way I lived this past week, would they see evidence of Jesus in my life?

It's easy to measure progress by the things we accomplish. In golf, that's scores, rankings, tournament finishes and, for me this week, earning status on the MENA Tour.

But those things don't tell the whole story.

I want to be a great golfer. I want to win tournaments, compete on the PGA TOUR and make the most of the abilities God has given me. But more than any of that, I want to be someone who knows Jesus and makes Him more known.

So this week, look for an opportunity to encourage somebody, pray with somebody or simply have a conversation. You never know what someone is walking through or how God might use a few minutes of your day.

And don't forget what that gentleman reminded me of.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is stop trying to figure everything out and just be a little kid hanging onto our Father's leg.

Know Him and make Him more known.

See you next week.