Throughout high school and college, and for most of my career after college, I either played or coached tennis. I loved the sport. It required everything: speed, endurance, quickness, strength, finesse, quick thinking, and patience.
However, as my body aged and my knees complained more and more about what I was requiring of them, I decided to hang up the racquets, jump ship, and take up golf. In a different way, golf required many of the same things that tennis did–minus the quickness perhaps–but came with an additional benefit: Walking on grass was much more body friendly than running on cement.
But there was even one more perk I hadn’t counted on. Something that golf offered that tennis didn’t, and that was the Invitational.
An Invitational, is where a person from one golf club “invites” you to play in a competition at her golf club. It can be a one or two day affair but always comes with a manicured course, a delicious meal, a nice tee prize, a plethora of raffle items, and then, to cap it off, prizes not only for placing in the tournament but also for getting Closest to the Pin, Longest Drive, or Most Accurate Drive. In other words, the hosting club, its grounds crew, and its members go out of their way to make sure you have a great experience. The only downside is that you have to pay for the experience and sometimes the cost can be a bit pricey.
In my area, because the summer heat can be pretty intense, most of the Invitationals fall either in May/June or September/October. Therefore, one could end up dishing out a lot of money in a short period of time, but just like the wealthy covet invitations during their social season, so do golfers long to take part in as many Invitationals as they can and so will willingly fork over the money.
Now here’s the irony. As individuals, we have been invited to a fantastic, never-to-be-exceeded banquet, in a place that is beautiful beyond compare, replete with rewards, with pleasures that will last forevermore,and a welcoming committee like no other…and it is free. Yet many of us reject the invitation while a lot of others aren’t even excited once they have accepted it. How much sense does that make?
Yes, the above are some of the many descriptions of Heaven, and yet so many of us either believe that Heaven will be a letdown, or we really don’t care to know what it will be like.
The Bible has a lot to say about heaven, and I have been told that Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven does a fantastic job of pulling those verses together. I am convinced (aka have my fingers crossed) that there will be golf courses in heaven, and I am hoping Alcorn’s book will provide a bit more assurance. But even if the Bible doesn’t address golf courses specifically (which it doesn't), I have no doubt that heaven will exceed exponentially any expectation I could have, for God’s thoughts and ways are “higher” than mine (Is. 55:9). If he has created such beauty in the heavens and the earth, and such pleasures while we are living in a fallen world, then how much more beautiful and pleasurable will heaven be?
If you are interested in reading Randy Alcorn’s book, just follow the link below to My Favs page. You can bet I will be reading it.
Luke 14:15-24 (Parable of the Great Banquet)
Revelation 21:1-22:5 (Description of the New Jerusalem)
I Corinthians 9:24-25 (rewards)
Psalm 116:11 (Immeasurable pleasures)
Luke 15:10; 2 Peter 1:11 (Welcomed to Heaven)
However, as my body aged and my knees complained more and more about what I was requiring of them, I decided to hang up the racquets, jump ship, and take up golf. In a different way, golf required many of the same things that tennis did–minus the quickness perhaps–but came with an additional benefit: Walking on grass was much more body friendly than running on cement.
But there was even one more perk I hadn’t counted on. Something that golf offered that tennis didn’t, and that was the Invitational.
An Invitational, is where a person from one golf club “invites” you to play in a competition at her golf club. It can be a one or two day affair but always comes with a manicured course, a delicious meal, a nice tee prize, a plethora of raffle items, and then, to cap it off, prizes not only for placing in the tournament but also for getting Closest to the Pin, Longest Drive, or Most Accurate Drive. In other words, the hosting club, its grounds crew, and its members go out of their way to make sure you have a great experience. The only downside is that you have to pay for the experience and sometimes the cost can be a bit pricey.
In my area, because the summer heat can be pretty intense, most of the Invitationals fall either in May/June or September/October. Therefore, one could end up dishing out a lot of money in a short period of time, but just like the wealthy covet invitations during their social season, so do golfers long to take part in as many Invitationals as they can and so will willingly fork over the money.
Now here’s the irony. As individuals, we have been invited to a fantastic, never-to-be-exceeded banquet, in a place that is beautiful beyond compare, replete with rewards, with pleasures that will last forevermore,and a welcoming committee like no other…and it is free. Yet many of us reject the invitation while a lot of others aren’t even excited once they have accepted it. How much sense does that make?
Yes, the above are some of the many descriptions of Heaven, and yet so many of us either believe that Heaven will be a letdown, or we really don’t care to know what it will be like.
The Bible has a lot to say about heaven, and I have been told that Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven does a fantastic job of pulling those verses together. I am convinced (aka have my fingers crossed) that there will be golf courses in heaven, and I am hoping Alcorn’s book will provide a bit more assurance. But even if the Bible doesn’t address golf courses specifically (which it doesn't), I have no doubt that heaven will exceed exponentially any expectation I could have, for God’s thoughts and ways are “higher” than mine (Is. 55:9). If he has created such beauty in the heavens and the earth, and such pleasures while we are living in a fallen world, then how much more beautiful and pleasurable will heaven be?
If you are interested in reading Randy Alcorn’s book, just follow the link below to My Favs page. You can bet I will be reading it.
Luke 14:15-24 (Parable of the Great Banquet)
Revelation 21:1-22:5 (Description of the New Jerusalem)
I Corinthians 9:24-25 (rewards)
Psalm 116:11 (Immeasurable pleasures)
Luke 15:10; 2 Peter 1:11 (Welcomed to Heaven)
http://www.jesolinski.com/my-favs.html
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