Doing the Right Thing

Proverbs 12:22 (NIV)
The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in men that are truthful.

I neither play golf nor am I a fan of the sport, but in April 2010 a news story by Jay Busbee caught my eye.

The headline read, "Davis Calls Penalty on Himself, Gives Up Shot at First PGA Win".

According to the article, Davis was involved in a playoff with Jim Furyk at the Verizon Heritage. Defeating Furyk in the playoff would have been Davis's first win in the PGA tour.

On his approach shot, Davis's ball bounced off the green and into a thick patch of weeds.

When Davis attempted to punch the golf ball back onto the green, he thought his club grazed a weed during his backswing.

If so, this would have been considered a violation of the rules, a two stroke penalty would have been levied against Davis and Furyk would have been declared the winner.

Davis did the right thing. He summoned a rules official who then consulted with the television replay technicians.

Only after the official reviewed the shot in slow motion was it confirmed that Davis had indeed grazed a weed.

Immediately, Davis conceded the tournament win to Furyk.

Davis did the right thing and I am glad that he did so.

At the same time, I am also saddened.

Has doing the right thing become so rare that it now is considered newsworthy?

Have qualities like honesty, integrity and character become the exception rather than the rule?

I am aware of more than two dozen passages of Scripture that stress the importance of honesty, and yet, the world has chosen to ignore them.

This is just one more reminder of how desperate the world's need of a savior has become.

Blessings,
The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeet.co.nr on May 21, 2010.
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I'll be back here on May 28, 2010.