Have you been watching the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC? Did you know that one of
our American athletes had his house foreclosed upon in December because he had to quit his
job more than two years ago in order to train for the Olympics? It seems his wife just did not
make enough to cover the house payments each month. What a sacrifice to achieve a dream!
Paul the Apostle talks about the sacrifice of athletic competition in 1 Corinthians
9:24-27, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the
prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for
the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown,
but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. …
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to
others, I myself should become disqualified” (NKJV).
This season of Lent is to us a period of preparation, a training camp, so to speak. This
is a time when we focus once again on the fundamentals of the faith. We know that “by grace
you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, let anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV). But what are the
practices that put us in the path of God? We want to remind ourselves from God’s word what
Jesus commands us to do as His disciples. We follow Jesus’ example of praying both privately
and corporately. That means we gather together to worship and praise God, to hear the word
of God read and explained so that our faith rises. We bring our tithes into the house of God
so that God is allowed to turn back the devourer and bless the ministry of His house. We read
and study the Bible because it is the inspired word of God, “and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man [or
woman] of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”
(2 Timothy 3:16-17, NKJV). We live lives of inner holiness and righteousness, which Jesus
Christ puts within us. This righteousness shines through us in acts of compassion and justice in
the world around us.
However, if we neglect these practices which Jesus commands us to do, how can we
call ourselves His disciples, that is, His disciplined students and followers? These lifestyle
practices put us in the pathway of God, put us on the road with Jesus, so that we are doing
what God blesses, not asking God to bless what we’re randomly doing. If we are disciples of
Jesus Christ, let us live as such. See you on the road with Jesus!
