Olympics have started and it’s been an absolute amazing story for the US Olympians. It seems like that if I am conscious, I’m watching the olympics. If I’m about to fall asleep, I mute the olympics and fall asleep to the white noise of my tv.. I guess in my mind, I feel like if I take my eyes off of the TV, I’m going to miss something. I.E the unbelievable finish of the U.S vs France in the 4 X 100m relay. What an impossible feat!!! This reminds me of how the bible talks about training to win, starting the race and finishing the race.
This also reminds of another amazing olympic story. At the 1968 Olympics, an hour after the marathon’s winner crossed the finish line, Tanzania’s John Stephen Akhwari limped across the finish line, injured in a fall early in the race. Asked why he didn’t quit, he said, “My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start this race. My country sent me to finish.”
I’ve always wondered, how much work does it actually take to become a world class olympian…. From what I hear from Michael Phelps (on the tv of course, but it seems like he’s speaking right to me,) all you do is eat, sleep, swim…and then do the process over and over again. How much truth is in that daily schedule? Of course there are some other things that he has to do. Take out the trash, feed the dogs, take a shower, do his daily chores, have a social life, etc. But honestly, does he have time to have a break from swimming? Maybe, Can he keep his mind from wandering back into the water thinking about every stroke, every breath, every kick? Probably not.
From his quote of eat, sleep, swim, i gathered this synopsis. Three things that he cannot compromise, three things he can’t slack away from. The other things in his life (social life, etc) can be compromised because they do not go along with his mental image of the gold medal. I mean I’m sure he has a social life of some sort, but it’s probably at the pool with his other olympic medal hopeful friends.
I say all that to say this. Olympians live, breathe for just a small moment on top of that Medal Podium. That is what they train for, that is what they beat their bodies for. But what happens when he gets too old for the olympics? Coach other olympians? The average age of olympians usually doesn’t exceed 28 and Michael Phelps is now 23 now. I’m sure coaching would be fun, but it doesn’t provide the same energy as actually doing it yourself.
We as Christians, have something to live and breath for now with eternal rewards in our future. Our goal is everlasting, our prize is eternal. How many of us actually live, breath, train our bodies for God’s glory? Some of us may train a little, here and there, but I bet most of our training couldn’t even get us to the jr. olympics. How much more do we have to look forward to, than our fellow Olympians? How much more do we have live for that some petty gold medal? (I’m getting to the jonas bros in a second) I believe we need to learn from the Olympian’s mindset. Everything else can be compromised in our lives, but not compromise the things that would get us to our goal. Eat, Sleep, God’s Glory. Eat, Sleep, Share the Gospel. Eat, Sleep, Love God Love People. What would our lives look like if we did that? What the world look like if we lived that way? Changed?
A couple of weeks ago, Dallas heard the news that the Jonas Brothers was moving in our area. I am not a big fan of the Jonas Bros, and I honestly haven’t heard a lot of their music. I’m sure they are great and I bet if I gave them a chance, I would actually enjoy their music. But even a person who is not a fan of the trio, could not escape from the news. It was everywhere within minutes; The local news, the newspapers, myspace comments, myspace status messages, facebook status, AIM Away Messages, etc. I bet for some who are reading this actually waited outside walmart so they could be the small few who got their hands on their new cd. (Yes, For some reason I knew it was coming out).
What if we took that zeal, and bottled it up and shared it with fellow believers so they could actually get excited for the one who created them. Get excited, lose sleep over, lose our voice for.
It’s a sad world if what we live for is just temporary. I admit, I screamed and got excited when Michael Phelps won his 2nd and 3rd goal medal in world record fashion. I do get excited for things that are not everlasting also. But I hope that i can learn myself, to use that energy for the Kingdom of Heaven.
