Going for the Gold

Good Morning My Beloved Ones,

      I pray there is no “quit” in you, for he that perseveres to the end receives the reward.

     Today I want to talk to you about “Going for the Gold.”  Do you love to watch the Olympics?  Do you love rooting for your nation’s team as they compete?  Do you feel a sense of pride as one representing your country climbs the stand to receive his/her medal as the National Anthem is played?  I do.  In fact, the Olympics are the only sport I watch and it’s for these reasons I enjoy it.

    My pastor, Scott, used to compete in track and field.  He ran the 400 meter race (once around the track).  This is not an endurance race like a marathon.  In this event, you run full-out at 100% from the second the gun goes off until you cross the finish line.  There is a point, Scott shared, at about the 300 meter mark where every athlete, no matter how well trained or how honed his physical condition, hits the wall.  It’s the point where the lungs can’t get enough air, the cramps set in, the legs feel like jelly and everything in you screams, “Quit!  I can’t go on!”  Those who finish the race, the winners, are the ones who press on through the wall and continue to the finish line.   

     Phillipians 3:13,14 talks about this very thing.  The Apostle Paul says, “…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.”  Forgetting those things which are behind is not just referring to not living in the past.  It’s referring to being in the moment, having all your attention and focus on the task at hand.  Pressing toward the mark is pushing through the wall, resisting the urge to give up when everything in you is screaming,  “Quit!  I can’t go on!”

     The Greek words translated as “the prize for the high calling” in this scripture literally mean “a medal stand” (like they use in the Olympics).  It’s the point where you’ve pushed through the struggles of this life, make it to Heaven and think, “Whew!  That was close, but I made it!”  Then Jesus takes your hand and says, “No, you’ve more than made it.  You’ve stood fast in adversity, you let your light shine in the darkness, you trusted Me.  Come, climb up here and receive your reward.”  And He gives you and imperishable (gold) crown.

     I want to encourage each of you to go for the gold, beloved ones.  There is a race to be won, a prize to be obtained.  We only need to be focused on the task at hand, push through the obstacles and never give up!

I’ll see you at the finish line, Raelynn