Gold-Medal Dedication
Theme for the Week: The Stuff of Leadership
Thomas Jones
Tuesday, July 3, 2001
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him (2 Chronicles 16:8-9).
Bonus Reading: Luke 6:38
In 1984, Tamas Darnyl reached his goal of joining the great Hungarian swim team, but then the Eastern Bloc boycotted the L.A. Games. But four years later at the Seoul Olympics, he got his chance, plotting a race strategy with times of restraint and of all-out pushing. He won gold medals in the 200-meter and 400-mere individual medleys, setting new world records. He returned to Barcelona in 1992 to do something never done before: win gold medals in those same two events in back-to-back Olympics.
Darnyl didn't have a perfect "swimmer's physique." But once Tamas decided to try out for the Olympic team, he pushed himself beyond other swimmers. His daily workout started at 6 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. John Urbanchek, his Hungarian-born coach at the University of Michigan, put it plainly: "What Tamas lacks in natural talent, he makes up for with incredible dedication."
In athletics, the condition of mind and heart is more important than the condition of the body. Dedication always translates into givinghours, sweat, patience, perseverance, prayers, counsel, tears. Those willing to give find God ready and willing to bless.
Thomas Jones in The Heart of a Champion Respond:
Do I believe the last sentence? Do I really believe it? Thought to Apply:
The only discipline that lasts is self-discipline.
Bum Phillips (football player, coach)
Adapted from: The Heart of a Champion (Discipleship Productions, 1996)
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Men of Integrity magazine.
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