Go for the Gold!
Theme of the Week: Life is Too Short
Friday, July 4, 2008
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: "I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich" (Revelation 3:18). Bonus Reading: Revelation 3:14-22
In the 1984 Summer Olympics, Carl Lewis won four gold medals. Despite his outstanding performance, some critics accused him of holding back in the long jump. Instead of going for the world record in that event, he stopped competing after his first jump, confident that he'd win the gold. He stood by and watched as other jumpers tried unsuccessfully to best his distance.
Lewis later said that the Olympic trials had taken more out of him than he had expected, so he decided to save his strength for the other events. He was there to win gold medals, he explained, not to set records that would probably last only a short time.
Mart De Haan, president of RBC Ministries, notes that the Bible has something similar to say about choosing to devote our time and energy for pursuits that have lasting value. The believers at Laodicea failed to do this. Our Lord perceived their misplaced values by the pride they took in their riches and their self-sufficiency. He warned that they were lukewarm spiritually and not relying on him. They had to decide, he told them, whether they'd keep pursuing temporal things in order to impress others, or go for the eternal gold of his approval.
—Harry Genet
My Response: What am I pouring my strength into? What eternal value does it carry?
Thought to Apply: The man who is always available isn't worth much when he is available. —Elton Trueblood (author & university chaplain)
Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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I want to devote my life to Your purposes, Lord. Help me work that out in my responses to the situations I face every day.
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