Applying Olympic-Level Discipline to Our Faith Journey
By Dean Collins
The amazing performances of athletes from all over the world will soon fade from our memories as the Paris Olympics are in the rearview mirror. The speed, agility, balance, flexibility, creativity, strength, and stamina of Olympic-level athletes truly stuns us as we watch. But what is more amazing to me is the often-lifelong discipline that was developed in order to gain the performance levels of these athletes.
There are so many things an athlete must do to reach an elite level. It takes strength and conditioning, proper diet and rest, willingness to take instruction, courage, and at least one more critical thing: repetition. Try to imagine the number of times an athlete repeats the same exercises. How many laps in the pool did the swimmers take in the years leading up to their one race? How many miles did the runner log before their 5K? How many vaults did the gymnasts do before they finally were able to do their winning vault? The answer to any of these questions is somewhere in the tens of thousands over years, not just days.
Psalm 119 is the longest of the psalms. Each section has seven to eight verses and is an alphabetical or acrostic psalm that uses the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet to frame the 22 paragraphs or stanzas. Section 17 uses the Hebrew letter pey to talk about the importance of the word of God. As you read verses 129 through 136 you begin to realize that in order to walk in the ways of God, we must develop the daily discipline of an athlete and take in God’s word regularly.
How important is it to spend time in God’s word daily? Well, consider what the psalmist says about our daily consumption of the word:
· The unfolding of your word gives light.
· It imparts, or gives understanding, to the simple.
· It creates longing to be led and informed by the word.
· The word steadies our steps as we align with its promises.
· It keeps us from allowing sin to have dominion over us.
· It teaches us the ways of God.
· It breaks our heart when we realize that we as a community do not keep God’s word.
An athlete can never achieve Olympic-level performances with occasional training or based on natural talent. The secret to their success is daily repetition and discipline.
What might change in our lives if we began to apply the discipline of daily reading and meditation on God’s word? And what happens to the believer if they apply that discipline, not just to get through a tough moment, but rather over a lifetime? I suspect that if we all took reading and practicing the word of God daily over our lifetimes, we might just see the next generation begin to see and understand that God’s plan to renew and restore his creation is working!
To see kingdom impact in our world requires kingdom people to make it a daily practice to read and live the word of God. This, of course, is impossible if we forget that long before we had the written word of God, our world experienced this reality:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
Because Jesus came in the flesh, died for our sins, was raised from the dead, and gave us the indwelling of his Spirit, we now have the capacity to truly live faithfully as God’s sons and daughters. So today, because we have been transformed by the word that became flesh (Jesus) and have his Holy Spirit living in us, we can receive and continue to grow in him as we read, trust, and practice all of God’s promises.
We won’t ever get an Olympic medal for our spiritual disciplines, but I am pretty sure that we will experience what Paul wrote about in Philippians 3:
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”
Father, we declare with the psalmist that your testimonies are wonderful. They give light to our path and lighten our burdens as we apply them to our lives. Thank you for sending Jesus in the flesh so that we might know you and have our sins forgiven. Thank you for giving us your Spirit and your word so that we might truly walk in your ways. May your word dwell in us today and be visible to others in the lives we live for your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Psalm 119:129-136; John 1:14; Philippians 3:14-16 ESV
Photo by Steven Lelham on Unsplash
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