In three weeks, the London Olympics will light the torch. For a number of days following the opening ceremonies we will be wowed by the impressive athletic feats of men and women from every country who can throw things farther, run places faster, lift things higher, and shoot things more accurately than anyone else on the globe. Every participant in the Olympics is an amazing athlete, however, it is fascinating to me the level of specialization that goes into each sport. Though Lebron James and Michael Phelps are both tremendous athletes, Lebron is better suited for the hardwood and Phelps is better suited underwater. All athletes, even all great athletes, are not created equal.
I was thinking of this fact today as I prepared for Sunday’s sermon. As Christians we are recreated in Christ as premiere spiritual “athletes.” In Christ, believers in Jesus from every country can follow Him higher, faster, and farther into His will than ever thought possible before. Because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian, those associated with Christ are all spiritual olympians, with the ability to “compete” at the highest level in the race Jesus has marked out for us. However, what is the nature of that race that we have been created for? Many times, we think of our Christian lives like some form of a 100 yard dash, or 110 meter high hurdles . . . a short term sprint with rests in between the various “heats” of competition. In reality, as I read the Scriptures, however, I see the main event of the Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. In fact, we have been recreated for this marathon just as Lebron was created for the basketball court. God has equipped you to run the long race of life.
The key to running the long race is the presence of faith. This week, in our series on the book of Hebrews (entitled “Anchored”) we will look at 10:39-12:2 as we see what faith looks like in action as we run with perseverance the (long) race marked out for us. Hope you can make it to either our 9:30 or 10:50 services as we worship together this Sunday morning at Wildwood. See you there!
