Thursday, April 23, 2015

During a past Winter Olympics I observed examples of athletes who went there to do their own thing and others who were there to first and foremost represent their country by doing their best and by experiencing the synergism of a winning team. A world renowned skier, blew it with his pride and arrogance leading to his fall and disgrace. Not the kind of hero you’d want your child to emulate. Then there was a speed skater who gave his prize money to a charity to help the less fortunate in Africa. Another was a short track skater who glowed with the thrill of being there to represent his country. He skated what to him was a perfect race to win the gold, and then went on to help his team win another medal. Paul often used athletic examples to illustrate his point. For example, In Philippians 3:12, After talking about pressing “on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me,” he declared, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (verses 13-14). The idea behind taking hold of something could be illustrated in American football when the quarterback throws a pass into the end zone and his player grabs the pass. As he is hit while in the air by one or more opponents he holds on until his feet hit the ground. Only then does the catch count as a touchdown. That’s what taking hold means. Paul wanted to grasp and then hold on to that for which Christ took hold of him. We should do the same.