Spiritual Athletics
By Pastor Jim May
Most of us have watched the Olympics on TV. We have watched as the athletes competed in all sorts of contests. Regardless of their area of competition, every athlete had to pay a high price to get to the Olympics. I know a young man who had such a dream. He was totally committed to making it to the Olympics so that he could compete to become the world champion in pole vaulting.
There would never be a day that he would miss going onto the practice field and running the course over and over, building his stamina and strength. He watched everything he put into his mouth and was careful to take in only that which was good for his body. He knew that he would have to have everything in place before he could truly be competitive.
If only we could have that same kind of determination in the realm of the Spirit.
Paul, on several occasions used sports as an example of the Christian life. He lived in a time when the Isthmian Games were very prominent. The Isthmian Games were first established in 581 BC in the city of Corinth. In the beginning, the champions were awarded a symbol of honor in the form of a crown of wild celery, but after Corinth was destroyed in 146 B.C. by the Romans and then rebuilt as a provincial capitol in 44 B.C. by Julius Caesar, the Isthmian games were reestablished. It was these games that would eventually lead to the establishment of the modern Olympics. The champion of the Isthmian Games under the Caesars was a crown of fir.
We are told that these crowns, made of leaves and branches, were given as a reminder to the champions that while receiving the glory of a victory crown was a great event in their lives, they should never forget that the victory is fleeting and, like the crowns themselves, their victory would soon be forgotten and their popularity would soon wilt away, never to be remembered again.
Even so, Paul knew that his readers would better grasp what he was trying to teach them if he could relate everything to something that they all knew about, and that was sports.
1)Paul wanted us all to remember that we must ever be “Striving for the Prize”.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
Athletes, competing for a championship prize, don’t start their competition at the moment the gun sounds for the race to begin. They must begin preparation many weeks, even years in advance of that starting gun.
It all begins with a dream, a thought and a desire to excel or to succeed. But in order for success and victory to come, there must be a daily striving for the prize. They can’t forget, even for one day that they must pay the price if they are to be competitive.
So it is for the Christian in our race. The moment that the trumpet sounds for us to all rise to meet Jesus in the air, is not the time to start preparing. If you wait that long, the race for you will be over before you can get off the starting line. If we are going to be in that number, we need to be striving to be ready right now.
Jesus is coming soon, but He is coming after a Bride that is ready for the wedding. He’s not going to hang around while we primp for a while. He’s not going to wait until we trim our lamps or slip on our shoes. When Jesus comes, it’s going to be now or never.
Strive for it now, while you can. Prepare yourself to be ready. Eat the right things so that your spiritual body can be strong – and what you need to eat is the Word of God. Drink in the living water of the Holy Spirit and allow the Word and the Spirit to take out every impurity in your life that could keep you from winning the race.
2)In every race there are Hindrances to the Runner, but we all face them.
Galatians 5:7-10, "Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be."
A lot of people in a race get off the finish line in style. Just a few weeks ago I went to a 5K run where my grandson was competing. He is a cross country runner and is striving to improve his skills. There must have been over 100 competitors all at the starting line. Everyone had a dream to run, but most would never win, because in their own minds they had already decided that someone else would be faster. The thing that amazed me is that they were all running but only a very few were really competing to win. The judges told those who knew that they would be slow to go to the back of the crowd so that the fast runners wouldn’t be hindered. It seemed that everybody but a few in the front looked around to see if they should move back. They had already decided to lose.
Some were only there to run for a little while, then they would walk their way back. Some were there just to see if they could improve on their time. But some were there to win and you could see the difference in their attitudes.
They walked a little straighter. They held their head up high and you could sense the hope in their spirit. They were like a race horse at the starting gate, nerves tense, eyes focused and ready to run, while everyone else just kind of stood around waiting for something to happen.
The gun sounded and they were off. It took some of them 20 seconds just to cross over the starting line. When they finally came back to the finish line, they were scattered over the entire 5K course.
Hindrances along the way had caused many to stop, to slow down, to start walking, or to just give up for a while. Everyone eventually made it back. The fastest runners were back in no time at all, running better than 6-minute miles, while some were still 10 minutes from the finish line an hour later when we all decided to leave.
Folks, I’m glad to see us all in the race, but I think that we had better strive a little more if we are allowing even the smallest of hindrances to slow us that much.
3)If you are going to finish this race you must keep Pressing toward the goal
Philippians 3:13-16, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing."
Hindrances will stand in the path of every one of us. For some it may be a sickness, a disease, or some other physical ailment. For some it may be emotional trials and tests. For others it may be financial difficulties. I am convinced that the more you want to win, and the harder you try, the more obstacles you will face.
But don’t worry about the hindrances in your race for the prize of Heaven. Jesus has already run the course and cleared the way. Whatever hindrances you will face, He will not allow them to overcome you. In fact, Jesus will turn those hindrances into helps and they will only tend to make you run faster and stronger than ever.
1 Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
4)One thing that we must do if we are going to run strong is to Strip off all the unnecessary weights before we begin to run.
Hebrews 12:1-2, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Every great hero of this race has had to do the same thing. If their right hand offended them, they cut it off. If their right eye offended them, they plucked it out. That doesn’t mean that they literally cut off a hand or lost an eye. It simply means that whatever tempted them they cut it off and stayed away from it. They certainly didn’t pick it up and carry it along the way.
You wouldn’t put on a heavy coat and cowboy boots to run a race. You would put on something light with a pair of running sneakers. If you try to carry your radio, a portable TV, your cell phone and a suitcase with an extra jogging suit, you won’t just lose the race, you probably won’t even finish. All of that extra baggage will kill you.
But that’s one thing that I see all the time in Christians who are running this race for Heaven. There is extra baggage hanging everywhere, and then they wonder why they aren’t able to live a victorious life in Christ.
5)This race is nearing its end and we are in the Home stretch!
Watching that race a few days ago, I noticed that when many of the runners finally rounded that last curve and saw the finish line ahead, they suddenly found a new energy and began to sprint the final leg home. Some of them made up as much as 15 to 20 seconds right at the very end of the race. But it wasn’t the sprinting that determined who won. It was those who had conditioned themselves to run a fast, steady pace, and still have power in reserve to sprint to the line.
Those who saw that finish line were encouraged to go on, to push harder than ever, and to give their all. Their race would soon be over and then there would be time to rest.
That’s exactly what Paul was saying in 2 Timothy 4:6-7, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:"
6)Your moment of victory will be only when the Prize is Won!
Those who run in the Olympics are all striving to be the champion; the one with the Gold Medal. Even though awards are given for Silver and Bronze, the only one that really counts is the gold.
Only the one with the gold is the winner; all the rest are relegated to the roster of losers. Regardless of how hard they ran, or how much they tried, they are still the losers. Coming in second or third means you lost and there’s no victor’s crown waiting for you. Your only choices are to either try again next time, or give up and be counted as a loser all your life.
I’m so glad that the race for Heaven isn’t like that. Everyone who finishes the race receives a crown of victory at the finish line.
2 Timothy 4:8, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."
I want that crown. It’s one that won’t wilt, and the joy of being victorious will last for eternity, never fading away. I want to run, to win, to finish and to make Heaven my Home! Are you running with me?
