Going for Gold - 1

After years of painstaking disciplined preparations, involving total commitment, dedication, and expenditure of tens of billions, the 2008 Olympics has finally taken place.

My wife and I watched when we could and have been enthralled as the competitors gave their utmost in the arena. We rejoiced with the winners as they shared their joy in the interviews afterwards. We held our breath as the sailors inched forward at the finish to win gold. It was almost as if we were on board with them. We cheered a local boy when he won through to the diving finals. Our hearts went out to the runner in the relay when he dropped the baton at the crucial moment. And when the athlete front-runner crashed out on the last lap, we really felt his acute devastation, as all his years of sacrificial preparation went down the plughole.

Then I was reminded of the words of Olympic athlete Eric Liddell, as portrayed in the movie "Chariot's of Fire." "You've come to watch a race but - - I want you to take part in it - - Commit yourself to the love of Christ, that's how you run a straight race."

We are invited to be partakers, not just onlookers. We are invited into an eternal love relationship where the prize has been won for us. The medal is waiting and is given freely without cost. The difference is, it's not just a 200 metre dash. We are in it for the long haul and has to be worked out with blood sweat and tears. We are not competing against each other of course, but against our lethargy, empty passions, lusts and addictions, amidst a hail of arrows from the enemy. The difference is, if we mess up and drop the baton we are always given another chance.

The question is, are we going for gold? All the saints in heaven will cheer us on until we stand on the rostrum with Jesus. Imagine the joy!

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." 1Co 9:24-25 New International Version