In Florida, there is a man with a very peculiar job. Every day when he gets dressed for work, he gets into his scuba diving gear. Yes, flippers, wet suit, oxygen tank – the lot. Now where does this scuba diver go? You would expect him to go into the nearby lakes and oceans. Or perhaps he’s a cave diver, carefully manoeuvring his way through underground chambers. But it might surprise you that he doesn’t go to any of these places. Where does he go then, you ask?      

Well, every morning, this fellow gets into his scuba diving gear and goes to… golf courses. Yes, you read that correctly. What does he possibly do at golf courses? Well, he dives into those golf course lakes to see what he could find at the bottom. And what does he find? Golf balls of course. Yes, literally millions of golf balls. But golf balls are not the only things this man finds at the bottom of those lakes. This man has also found a few unexpected items under those lakes including cars, a bowling ball, and would you believe a number of golf buggies - which I’m sure belonged to some unfortunate golfers!  

But all those things are extras to this man. The treasure that he is really after is the golf balls. You see, on an average working day, this man finds about 8000 missing balls. That’s right, 8000 old dirty golf balls are collected every single day. No doubt these balls have been hit into the lake by accident when players made bad hits. And those who made the hits would certainly have thought their balls were forever lost. But no, here comes along this man, who works to fetch all the golf balls out of the murky lakes. What does he do with them? This man pulls out all the golf balls he can find and cleans them up. When they’re looking nice and shiny again, he sells them… for about $1 each. Now you might think, ‘$1 each… that’s not very much!’. But just do some simple quick maths. 8000 golf balls a day sold for $1 each… well that’s $8000 dollars. Wow, now that is good money! But let’s think further, if that man works say 300 days in a year, how much would he get from these golf balls in a year? The maths tells me $2.4 million! Yes that’s right, this man has become a multimillionaire from his used golf ball enterprise.  

But you might ask who would buy these? Who could possibly be interested in old golf balls? Well, a number of places it turns out- golf courses, golf clubs, golf shops, driving ranges, putt-putt… you name it! Apparently, there is actually a very big market for second hand golf balls, and not just domestically in the US for him either in. No, demand is so high he now ships them of all over the world- even in Australia!

You know, this story reminds me of Jesus. The Bible reveals that Jesus is the great rescuer of humankind. Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Just like those lost golf balls seemingly forgotten at the bottom of the lake, we too may feel lost, forgotten or drowning in our world. But then enters Jesus, the light and saviour of the world. He searches for us, even when we might feel like we are forever lost. He finds us and holds us close because we are a valuable treasure to him. Why are we worth so much to God? I love how the Bible puts it:

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. Isaiah 43:1

That is the very reason why our school exists - to reveal Jesus Christ, our creator and redeemer. I’m blessed to be part of this school. And I’m especially grateful to God that He has led you and your family to our school.

Have a wonderful week.  

Kaden