ORANGE —
Some people train all their lives for that one moment.
Whitney Houston sings “One Moment in Time”: “Each day I live, I want to be, a day to give, the best of me. . . . My finest day is yet unknown. I broke my heart, fought every gain, to taste the sweet, I face the pain. I rise and fall, yet through it all, this much remains; I want one moment in time, when I'm more than I thought I could be.” “When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away and the answers are all up to me. Give me one moment in time when I'm racing with destiny. Then in that one moment of time I will feel eternity.” “I've lived to be the very best. I want it all, no time for less. I've laid the plans, now lay the chance here in my hands. Give me one moment in time.”
If you are watching the Summer Olympics, you’re seeing people from all over the world who have given untold hours, and years of their lives in the quest for that one moment.
I watch the games not because I am athletic, but because I am amazed to hear their stories of commitment and see them realize their dreams.
People like Michael Phelps.
Phelps first Olympic experience came in 2000. Only 15 at the time, Phelps became the youngest American male swimmer to qualify for the Olympics, but he didn't earn a single medal. There was no doubt that greatness was on the horizon, and it didn't take long for Phelps to prove that point. Only six months later, Phelps became the youngest man to break a world record when he swam the 200-meter butterfly in one minute - 54.92 seconds at a meet in Austin, Texas. Phelps being the most decorated Olympian, worked for years to get to this point.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9:24-25, that we should be just as committed and diligent in living out our faith and that the prize for doing so is worth more than a medal.
In a race all the runners run. But only one gets the prize. . . . So run in a way that will get you the prize. All who take part in the games, train hard.
They do it to get a crown that will not last.
But we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
