Power Of Going For The Gold

Key Scripture:  "By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back."  Philippians 3:14

Power Point:

I’ve been enjoying watching the Olympics this week. I love watching all the competitions, although I must admit I usually record them and watch them later. I can’t stand the anguish.

It surprised me to know that in a survey people actually like to know who won the medal before viewing the competitions. I don’t know why that surprises me but it does. After all I’m the one who peeks on the last page of the book to see if I will like the ending!

I look at these athletes and their beautifully toned bodies and their stamina and their commitment to win and it amazes me. I watched as Michael Phelps swam into history in front of 85000 people who watched and screamed and cheered him on. Even his opponents were excited for him. I watched winners and losers. I gasped when Gabby fell off the balance beam and I saw her megawatt smile at the end of it all. She had won the gold.

Did you know that God has a lot of gold stored up for us in heaven?  There are whole streets made of it. And of course there are golden crowns and golden bowls where our prayers are kept. I can’t wait to see it all.  How about you?

We know that there is a great crowd of heavenly witnesses that are observing our own run for the gold.  Until I saw the crowds at the games, I didn’t have a good picture of that. Just imagine every day of your life, being observed and cheered on as all of heaven watches your progress.

It would help wouldn’t it when things get a little rough? There are times when I need to hear those voices telling me: “Keep going Suzanne.  You can do it!” You probably do too.

At any rate, like those Olympic athletes each one of us has a race to run and a prize to win.

Do we need to be more diligent in how we apply ourselves to that? Those athletes set aside their lives to pursue earthly gold.  Shouldn’t we set aside at least some of  the earthly to achieve our heavenly treasures? Some of the athletes left family and home to train. Some of their families made huge sacrifices over the years so they could fulfill their dreams. Can we do less than that to win the prize of fulfilling our calling in Him?

Take a moment to ponder how much you are willing to sacrifice to go for heavenly gold. You never need to worry if you will win or not. He has made sure of that. 

Power Thought:

My favorite prize will be to see my Savior place a golden crown on my head and hear Him say, “Well done sweetheart!” How about you?