I remember the opening
scenes of ABC’s Wide World of Sports. In
the pursuit of victory many would experience the thrill and many would go down
to defeat.
I have been watching some of the games of the XXVIII Olympiad.
I have come to the conclusion that there are so many different types of
games now, that I am sure there is almost a game for everyone.
If I had known about all the different games that are played I may have
been an Olympic gold medalist. When
I was attending Crichton Junior High School, Tony Holland and I were the
champions of badminton. I believe
with a little more practice, dedication, and commitment we could have been
Olympic contenders. But sad to
say that was the end of my badminton career.
There are many different sports represented in the modern day Olympics.
Athletics
, Baseball
, Basketball
, Beach
Volleyball , Boxing
, Cycling
Track , Diving
, Equestrian
, Fencing,
Gymnastics
Artistic, Handball
, Hockey,
Rowing
, Sailing,
Shooting
, Softball,
Table
Tennis , Tennis
, Volleyball
, Water
Polo , Wrestling
I think the smart person would find
something you are good at and ask for it to become an Olympic sport.
How about cooking, porch sitting, or dog walking?
Now there are some sports that I believe I could compete in.
There is a sport that everyone is invited to participate in.
It is the spiritual games. The
writer to the Hebrews compares our spiritual lives to the games.
He tells how to participate in the spiritual games?
1.
The Spiritual Game or Race is a Marathon.
Don’t Quit too Soon. Finish
Well.
Hebrews
12:1 (NIV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let
us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the
joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition
from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Olympic Creed
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern-day Olympics, was at a
service held in St. Paul's Cathedral in London in honor of the Games of the IV
Olympiad when he heard the Bishop's words during the sermon that inspired his
speech a few days later:
The most important
thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most
important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential
thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.
These words now appear on the
electronic scoreboards at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games.
ATHENS -- Paul Hamm's
historic victory in the Olympic all-around Wednesday puts a face to U.S. men's
gymnastics, a sport long dwarfed in popularity by the women.
It wasn't just that Hamm won
the gold medal, the first ever for an American in the men's all-around, but it
was how he did it that could provide a big boost to his sport back home.
Hamm fell on his vault
landing, under-rotating on his 2 1/2 twist and tumbling into a judge's scoring
area. He was leading until that apparatus, his fourth, but his 9.137 dropped
him down to 12th.
Hamm moved back up to fourth
with an outstanding parallel bars routine, scoring a 9.837, then put up an
identical 9.837 on high bar to complete the improbable comeback, edging South
Korea's Kim Dae Eun by .012 of a point, the slimmest margin in the history of
the men's all-around event.
2.
God Got into the Game. Will
we get into the Game?
Have we got into the game of the Spiritual War?
John
1:11 (KJS) He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
[even] to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Olympic Motto
Citius, Altius,
Fortius is generally accepted to mean "swifter, higher,
stronger" and is said to represent the aspirations of all the athletes in
the Olympic movement who endeavor to run faster, jump higher, and throw more
strongly. The words were conceived in 1895 by Henri Didon, the headmaster of
Arcueli College near Paris while he was delivering a speech glorifying the
athletic achievements of his pupils.
3.
How should we participate in the spiritual games?
He says to:
Remember the witnesses!
Many are watching how we do.
Remember to throw off the
weights! Put
off the extra weights that would hold us down or slow us down.
Get rid of that sin that slows us down.
Remember to run and run
with perseverance the race. Keep
on Keeping on.
Remember the race is
marked out for us. (This is the race of
faith.) Stay on track.
Remember to fix our eyes
on Jesus who is the author and perfecter of our faith.
Remember that Jesus ran
the face first.
He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right
hand of the throne of God. Will we follow His example?
Remember him who endured,
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Will you join in the race and
commit yourself to the struggle to be who God wants you to be?
The winners in the spiritual race are all those who race with God.
Will you win?