West-Haysville-Baptist’s Weblog

Pastor David

From August 8th to 24th, the Summer Olympic Games will be held in Beijing, China. The best athletes from around the world will be gathering to compete against one another in an attempt to win a reward known as an Olympic gold medal. The Olympic gold medal is one of the most coveted prizes in the world of sports.

The excitement over the Olympic Games reminds me of the film entitled Chariots Of Fire. It is one of my favorite films. It is the story of two men who competed in the 1924 Olympic Games that were held in Paris, France. Both of the men, Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, won gold medals in track during those Olympic Games. However, the two men were very different. Harold Abrahams ran for his own glory while Eric Liddell ran for the glory of God. In fact, Eric Liddell refused to run in 100 meters race, which was the event he had trained for, because the race was held on a Sunday. Still, God honored him and he was able to compete in the 400 meter race. The amazing thing is that he was able to win a gold medal in that event.

All of us who are Christian are also running a race. It’s the race of life. We are also seeking to win a prize. Paul refers to it as a “crown that will last forever” in I Corinthians chapter 9, verse 25. In other words, it is even more valuable than any Olympic gold medal because its value will not diminish with time. However, Paul also tells us in that verse that we’re not going to win that prize unless we train. As he put it, “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.” In Paul’s day they held athletic games that were similar to our modern day Olympics. The athletes who win the “crowns” or Olympic gold medals in track and field are those athletes who train for the events in which they compete. In other words, they work very hard at preparing for their race.

Those of us who are Christians also need to work very hard at the race we’re involved in. That means that we need to work as hard at getting into a good spiritual condition as the Olympic athletes work at getting into a good physical condition. It reminds me of what Paul says in verse 7 of I Timothy chapter 4: “Train yourselves to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for this life and the life to come.” In other words, spiritual training is more valuable than physical exercise. After all, physical exercise only benefits us as long as we are physically alive, but spiritual training makes us better people while we live in this world and it also prepares us for life after death.

So those of us who are Christians need to engage ourselves in a program of spiritual training or exercise. That means that we can’t afford to be spectators sitting on the sidelines watching other Christian athletes compete. We all need to train ourselves to be godly or God-like in the way we live our lives in this world. I have read many books on spiritual disciplines. Two of the best I’ve read that apply to all Christians are Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life by Donald Whitney and The Life You’ve Always Wanted by John Ortberg. Dennis and Barbara Rainey have also written excellent books on spiritual disciplines for men and women entitled Disciplines For A Godly Man and Disciplines For A Godly Woman. I am convinced that if we’re going to become well-conditioned spiritual athletes we must train ourselves to be godly by practicing the spiritual disciplines that are talked about in the Bible. The spiritual disciplines include things like Bible study, prayer, worship, service, evangelism, and generosity. Practicing spiritual disciplines like that require some effort on our part. However, if we do those things we will develop the spiritual strength we need to live a godly life in this world. Then, when our life in this world is over, God will reward our efforts by giving us a prize that is worth far more than any Olympic gold medal. That’s something worth training for!

In His Service,

Pastor David Vetter